Beacon's Lost Prophecy
by mak133
Summary: The sequel to Beacon's Newest Arrival. Despite recent events, the Vytal Festival is in full swing. However, not all is well. The White Fang is lurking in the shadows, and an ancient forgotten truth will soon be revealed to all. Will our heroes rise to the challenge? Or will they crumble under the pressure? Only time will tell. Book Two of The Beacon Saga.
1. Chapter Zero: Clench Your Sphincters

Chapter Zero: Clench Your Sphincters

Yang Xiao Long sat in a large brown leather chair that was positioned in front of a fireplace. The lights in the room were dimmed, and the bookcases were stuffed with old novels and encyclopedias. The blonde brawler crossed her legs, and a black cat with amber eyes jumped into her lap.

"Hello, dear reader," she said in a calm and soft tone. "My name is Yang Xiao Long and I'll be your host this evening."

The cat mewed and Yang began to stroke its silky black fur.

"Tonight, I'm going to tell you a story," She pondered her words for a moment. "Well, maybe not the _whole_ story, but a _summary_ of the story that came before the one you're about to read."

She reached for the large margarita glass filled with a pinkish liquid and a little yellow umbrella on the side. Yang took a sip of the drink, smacking her lips together obnoxiously before setting it back down on the small table beside her chair.

"But before I tell you this summary, I strongly urge you to read _Beacon's Newest Arrival_ in its entirety if you haven't already done it, as this summary is only meant to briefly remind those that did read it, of just how awesome it was."

Yang reached for her drink again, lifting it off of the table. This time however, she didn't drink it. Instead, she pulled a small book from underneath the glass and stared at it.

"Woops, momma got a little somethin' somethin' on it…" Yang proceeded to lick the tasty liquid from the cover of the book. When she was satisfied that she'd cleared the book of her drink, she dried it off on her blouse and opened the cover, reading aloud in her calm tone.

"Beacon's Newest Arrival...we began on a cool evening night in Vale. A mysterious hooded figure had exited an airship arriving from Atlas. This figure had decided that he needed a drink after his long journey, and headed into the nearest beer hall to quench his thirst. Once inside, he ordered a bottle of his favorite soda. This figure would later be discovered to be me and Ruby's adopted cousin, Mason Griffon. This guy was raised by our Uncle Qrow, who found him abandoned on his doorstep like a prom night dumpster baby." Yang sighed in reminiscence. "Ruby and I grew up alongside this him as a result."

The black cat tried to jump from Yang's lap, but the blonde caught the feline and brought it back. "No you don't. Mama's not done with you yet."

After struggling with the cat, Yang regained her focus once again. "Now, the circumstances around his birth remain a mystery to this day, but we later found out that he was half-faunus, and the biological son of Conroy Griffon, first lieutenant of the White Fang, and all around dickmunch extraordinaire. This series of events led Mason on a quest across all of Remnant to learn more about his biological father and who he was as a person." Yang said. "Now, all that sounds interesting, right? Well that all happened BEFORE he arrived at the bar in Vale, so you didn't get to read any of it, which is a shame if you ask me, but I digress."

Yang continued with her enlightening summarization. "So there he was, in a bar, enjoying his cold bottle of cola in peace. Then, yours truly arrived, and convinced him that it was a good idea to come to Beacon Academy in order to become a Huntsman. So he agreed and I took him to Ozpin, who admitted him only on the condition that he pass the initiation test." Yang yawned briefly. "Which brings me to one of my personal favorite moments in the story. When Weiss and Mason first met, she -"

"Yaaaaannggg, we're back!" Ruby's voice interrupted Yang, causing the cat to swiftly jump off of her lap.

"Uh oh…" Yang muttered. She stood up from the large comfy chair.

"What in the...what in the world is _this?"_ Weiss' voice came from the other side of the fireplace. "Yang, what did you do?! Why is there a fireplace in our dorm? WHY IS THERE A CAT?" The cat meowed at the mention of its presence.

"Well, it looks like that's all the time we have for today, ladies and gentlemen!" Yang took a bow. "If you want to know what happens when Weiss first meets Mason, you'll just have to read the actual story to figure out for yourselves! But for all of you people that DID read it, I proudly present to you, the long awaited sequel, " _Beacon's Not So Newest Arrival!"_

"YANG, THE CAT PEED ON MY BED!" Weiss shrieked.

Yang turned around and shouted. "HE'S MY CUDDLE MUFFIN, AND HE DOESN'T APPRECIATE YOUR ATTITUDE!"

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! Hope you liked that little opening! Don't worry, the characters won't break the fourth wall in this story, I just thought it was a neat little way to introduce the sequel :) By the way, if you really haven't read Beacon's Newest Arrival, go do it now. Seriously. For everyone else, clench your sphincters because you're in for one hell of an adventure.**


	2. Chapter One: Everything Old is New Again

**A/N: I'M BAAAAAACKK~**

* * *

Chapter One: Everything Old Is New Again

The Wintercrest Mountains…the largest mountain range in the eastern hemisphere of Remnant. Spanning across Mistral from the snow-covered Northern Coast to the warm and breezy South Eastern Shore, the Wintercrest Mountains were truly a sight to behold.

However, its most impressive feature was squared away near the center of the large mountain chain.

Mount Solstice: The largest mountain on the face of Remnant. So large in fact, that the summit of the mountain extended far beyond the puffy white clouds in the sky. Its slopes were abundant with trees towards the bottom, but the peak was rocky and capped with snow. As massive and beautiful as it was deadly, Mount Solstice was truly a sight to behold.

At the base of the mountain, however, was something just as serene as the sight of the mountain itself.

The town of Fyrefall was a busy and bustling place, a thriving boomtown that served as one of the many stops on the major trade route that ran right through the country. The buildings, houses, and stores were either made of bricks or wood, and none of them were taller than two stories. The citizens of Fyrefall lived a peacefully monotonous life. The streets of the moderately sized town were littered with people going about their daily routine as usual, with the enormous mountain looming over them.

Soon, a horse drawn covered wagon came trotting down the main road of the town. The driver of the wooden wagon, wearing a brown scarf and a matching newsboy hat, pulled back on the horse's reins and the wagon slowly rolled to a stop.

"Alright, here we are," The driver said before turning to look back inside the wagon. "You folks have a nice day, alright?"

"You do the same," a feminine voice replied as she stepped out of the wagon. Once outside, Blake Belladonna took in her surroundings. She closed her eyes and inhaled the fresh mountain air, letting it fill her lungs before exhaling slowly.

Her male companion followed and when the wagon turned around and left, the young man stretched his arms over his head and yawned. "God, it's good to be out of there."

"I couldn't agree more," Blake sighed. "Does this look like the right place, Mason?"

He laughed slightly, nodding toward Mount Solstice in the distance. "Yeah, judging by that thing, I'd say we're on the right track. He's somewhere on that mountain."

Blake looked around, examining her surroundings. The quaint little town was a nice change of pace for her. A group of kids ran past them, laughing and running through the streets. One little boy, who was carrying a cone of ice cream and running behind his friends, tripped in the dirt, falling over an arms length away from the town's new arrivals.

Mason immediately walked over and knelt down next to the young kid, who was maybe five or six, and examined him.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" the boy meekly replied. He looked more defeated about losing his ice cream to the dirt than he did about falling down.

Mason reached into one of the many pockets of his black hooded jacket and pulled out a small golden coin before handing it to the kid. "Here, get yourself a new one."

The kids face lit up at the stranger's kindness. "Thank you, sir!"

Mason smiled and tousled the boy's hair. "Anytime, kid."

The boy hopped to his feet and sprinted off behind his friends.

Mason stood up and placed his hands on his hips, smiling at his good deed. Blake walked up beside him and folded her arms across her chest.

"You do realize that coin was worth about a hundred lien," she said with a wry grin on her face. "He could probably buy two hundred ice cream cones with that."

Mason sighed slowly and heavily as he watched the kid run off with his 100 lien gold coin, all with the sad smile still wrapped around his face. "Well, shit..."

Blake tried to contain her laughter as Mason slouched over in defeat and groaned.

"Relax," she said, patting him on the back. "We can spare it; it's not like it's the end of the world."

"Yeah, you're right…" he sighed before straightening himself. "I guess it's good karma and all that."

Blake scanned the buildings down the main street of Fyrefall. She pointed at several tower-like structures that rose slightly above the other buildings. Inside of the towers, stood several soldiers carrying rifles.

"Watchtowers…" Mason quietly repeated. "For the Grimm."

The feline faunus nodded her head. "Yeah. I've heard they're only precautionary, though. The risk of a Grimm attack in this town is fairly low, especially this close to the mountain."

"No kidding," Mason said, his eyes drifting toward the mountain in the distance. "Any idea why they avoid the mountain?"

Blake shook her head. "No clue."

"Huh," he quickly hummed. "I dunno whether that's a good or a bad thing…"

Blake and Mason began walking down the main street of Fyrefall, taking in the atmosphere of the small trading town. The stores and shops were all neatly lined up with the street, with the occasional intersection to another street appearing between them. The town of Fyrefall seemed so peaceful, it was hard to believe that evil of any kind existed in Remnant at all.

Mason pulled out his scroll and checked it for any kind of signal. "Damn, still nothing. Weiss is gonna be pissed."

It had been almost a week since Blake and Mason had arrived in Mistral, and almost three weeks since they'd left Beacon. Since arriving in Mistral, they hadn't had any contact with their teammates back home. A whole week without contact with Weiss was sure to make her worry.

Immediately a small beeping sound emitted through the air, and an electronic female voice emitted from his scroll. " _No kidding. She's gonna tear you apart!"_

"You're not helping, Sheila," Mason said to the artificial intelligence that resided inside of his scroll.

" _Ah, I'll tell you what,"_ Sheila said in a chipper tone. " _As soon as you get a signal again, I'll send Weiss a message telling her that you're okay. Would you like that?"_

Mason sighed. "Yeah, I'd appreciate that. Thanks."

" _No problem!"_ Sheila replied before Mason closed his scroll once again and stuffed it back into his pocket.

Sheila had come a long way since being freed from the rust bucket of a ship in which she'd been previously installed so long ago. The AI had almost seemed to have grown in terms of her intelligence as well as her personality. Mason didn't think of her as just his AI companion, she was part of the team.

"We should probably find a place to stay for the night," Blake suggested, nodding in the direction of a two story building with a large sign above it. "You should try and see if you can get us a room."

Mason read the sign above the door. "'The Dapper Raven Tavern & Inn,' huh? Sounds nice!"

"You go and get us a room there while I check out some of the stores around here." Blake said.

"Alright," Mason nodded. "Sounds like a plan!"

He turned in the direction of the inn, and just as he was about to walk away, he was stopped by Blake's voice.

"Hey, Mason?" she asked.

He turned his head around and looked at her. "What's up?"

"Don't go giving away obscene amounts of our money to any more little kids," she said with a sly smile.

"Oh, _har har,_ " he sarcastically replied before turning around and continuing toward the inn.

* * *

When he opened the door to the inn, a loud dinging sound filled the establishment, indicating that a patron had entered the premises. The tavern was different from Bentley's Bar back home. It was larger with more floor space, and there were booths and tables around the establishment as well as the bar up front.

"Hold on a second!" a voice sounded off from the kitchen upon hearing the bell signifying the entrance of a customer. "I'll be right out!"

Mason stared in shock at the door behind the bar that led to the kitchen. The voice that had replied to him seemed eerily familiar. It was a voice that he'd known all too well.

"Weiss?" he asked, uneasily. "Weiss, is that you?"

"Who?" the voice replied just before the clanging sound of numerous pots and pans crashing to the floor had filled the tavern, followed by an exasperated, "aww, come on!"

He watched as the owner, a blond haired young woman with the name "Kara" written on her nametag, walked out of the kitchen. She clearly looked flustered from whatever had happened in the kitchen.

"Hi, sorry about that, hon," she said in a sweet tone. "Were you looking for somebody?"

"Umm, no, it's just that…" Mason stammered. "You sound _a lot_ like my girlfriend."

Kara raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah," Mason nodded. "It's kinda spooky, actually. Can you do me a favor? Say, 'I am an heiress, you dunce.'"

"I am an heiress, you dunce," Kara said in her normal voice. "Is that it?"

Mason shook his head. "No, say it with a higher pitch…and whinier."

"I am an HEIRESS, you DUNCE!" Kara said.

He snapped his fingers and pointed at Kara. "Nailed it."

"So that's what your girlfriend sounds like, huh? I…HEY!" She looked past Mason at a burly man with a large red beard across the bar who had his feet propped up on the table in front of him. "REMOVE YOUR FEET FROM THE TABLE, OR I'LL REMOVE 'EM FOR YOU!"

The burly man's eyes grew wide and fearful, as if he'd been caught doing something illegal. Without breaking eye contact with Kara, he put his hands up in the air and slowly lowered his boots from the table to the floor.

"That...kinda sounds like her, too…" Mason muttered under his breath.

"Thank you~," she said in a singsong voice before returning her attention to the young customer in front of her. "Now, what can I do for you, hon?"

"Umm, I was wondering if you had a room available for the night. My…partner and I need a place to stay for a few days."

"I sure do!" Kara said, cheerfully. "It's 65 lien per night and that includes dinner and breakfast!"

"Okay, we'll take it!" Mason said enthusiastically.

Kara smiled as she pulled out a small registry and a pen, handing them both to Mason. "Okay then! I'll just need your names and I'll give you your key!"

He took the pen from Kara and signed his and Blake's name into the registry. Once he was finished, Kara took the registry, pen, and looked at the name's he'd written down. Once she did, a strange look crossed her face.

"Mason Griffon, huh?" she asked, her eyebrow slightly raised.

"Yeah," Mason also raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong with that?"

Kara shook her head. "Not at all! I was just told to give this to you if you arrived."

Mason watched as Kara reached under the bar and pulled out a small yellow envelope before handing it over to him. He was about to open it when a loud ear-piercing siren began ringing continuously outside, causing him to freeze in his place.

"What...is _that_?!" Mason exclaimed

"That's the 'something bad is coming and we need to duck and cover our asses' siren." Kara ducked behind the bar and reappeared with a long wooden baseball bat in her hands. "ALRIGHT, EVERYONE HEAD THROUGH THE KITCHEN. GET DOWN TO THE STORM SHELTER NOW!"

The patrons in the tavern rushed past Mason and Kara into the kitchen and she followed. Before she entered, she turned around and pointed at him. "You coming?!"

Mason grinned as he shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. You guys stay safe, I'll see if I can help out there."

Kara shrugged. "Whatever you say, kid. Be careful"

Mason watched as she shut the kitchen door behind her, leaving him alone in the tavern. He stuffed the yellow envelope into one of the pockets of his blue sling backpack. He tightened the single strap until the bag was tightly secured around his body, and ran back outside, straight into the chaos that developed in the streets.

* * *

Blake was browsing the adult fiction section in the town's bookshop when the ear-shattering siren began to sound off. She dropped the book she was looking at and immediately ran outside.

The streets were in a state of complete madness. Citizens ran around in utter panic, trying to take shelter in whatever home or store that they could. The town's small militia hurried all around her, trying to take up their positions.

"Did you see how many of them there are?!" One soldier said to his partner as he ran past her. "There's too many of them, we're done for!"

Blake turned in the direction of the tavern and saw Mason sprinting toward her. He came to a screeching halt in front of her, sliding across the dirt.

"What happened?" he asked as he examined the scene around them. "What's going on around here?!"

"I have no idea," she replied. "But it's _not_ good."

From down the street, a soldier hurriedly approached the pair in the middle of the street.

"Get out of here!" the soldier said, waving his hands for them to move. Judging by his uniform, he was in some position of power within the militia. "The Grimm are swarming us, take shelter!"

"Whoa, whoa," Mason stopped the man. "Who are you? Just how many Grimm are we talking about here?"

"Tyson…Commander Ross Tyson," The young commander clearly looked distressed. "And the Grimm…there's more than I think we'll be able to handle. We don't have enough men for this large of an attack!"

"Sir," Blake said, calmly motioning to Mason beside her. "Everything's going to be fine. My friend and I are Huntsmen, we'll help you and your men fend them off."

"Wait, are you kids serious?!" Tyson was taken by surprise. His eyes were drawn to the black sword hilt that protruded from just behind Blake's shoulder.

Mason nodded. "Yeah, we are. Just send us wherever you need us, Commander."

"Well, I'll be damned. A couple of Huntsmen on our side? We might stand a chance after all!" The commander exclaimed.

Suddenly, a loud roar echoed through the air from behind them. Mason and Blake turned around just in time to see two Boarbatusks and an Ursa wander into the street from an adjacent alley.

Mason and Blake exchanged glances.

"And I was looking forward to a nice relaxing night," he sighed, rolling up the sleeves of his jacket to reveal the silver gauntlets that encased his forearms underneath.

Blake removed Gambol Shroud from its sheath and skillfully twirled the blade around in front of her. "I'll take the one on the left…"

"And I've got the one on the right," he replied. "Then we both take down the big one."

"Sounds like a plan," she agreed.

Mason's wrists twitched, activating his gauntlets and releasing the pair of twelve-inch steel blades that resided within each with a metal screech.

The Boarbatusks snorted as Blake and Mason charged toward them. The creatures began to spin vertically like a wheel, picking up so much speed, that they started to look like a blur. Mason and Blake quickly dodged out of the way just as the Boarbatusks charged forward with lightning speed.

Blake pivoted on her heel, facing her target as it passed her. She pulled Gambol Shroud's trigger and fired off several rounds in quick succession. Each projectile hit its mark, penetrating the creature's jet black hide. It howled as it was thrown off balance, and tumbled through the air. Its forward momentum carried it through the dirt for yards before it came to a rest, disoriented and dazed.

She glanced over at Mason, who had somehow managed to get his own target on its heavily armored back. Blake watched as he drove his claws directly into the Boarbatusk's stomach, causing it to evaporate into a black mist.

She quickly advanced toward her own prey, and before the Boarbatusk had time to charge again, she grabbed hold of one of its large tusks and jerked it back down to the ground before ramming the blade of her weapon straight into the neck of the Grimm creature. After a few violent spasms, the creature exploded into darkness

"Now the big guy!" she heard Mason yell as he turned to face the Ursa.

"Right," Blake nodded. "Here, catch!"

The blade of Gambol Shroud folded in on itself and she pulled the trigger, launching the weapon towards Mason. He snatched the weapon out of the air and wrapped its black ribbon around his wrist, tethering the two of them together as they ran straight toward the Ursa.

The giant creature swiped at the both of them with its massive paws, but missed as they ducked around it. Blake and Mason ran straight on either side of the Ursa and jumped into the air. Their own momentum carried them past the creature's head on either side, and the ribbon between them caught it by the neck.

The pair's velocity was enough to drag the creature of Grimm to the ground by the neck with a fair amount of force. Not wasting a moment to capitalize, Mason threw Blake's katana back to her, and the duo swiftly slashed away at the creature's head and torso.

Defeated, the Ursa evaporated into the black mist that often accompanied the death of a creature without a soul.

When the mist dissipated, both Blake and Mason saw Commander Tyson's expression change from that of panic into one of joyous excitement.

"HELL YES," the young militia commander exclaimed. "THAT IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!"

A small group of soldiers and citizens that had gathered around the fight had begun cheering.

"Not bad for a couple of Huntsmen-in-training, huh?" Mason said.

Tyson smiled as he ran up to them. "No sir, not bad at all!"

The sound of roaring, gunfire, and the shouting of militiamen all echoed throughout the town, sending chills down everyone's spine.

"Look, this place is infested with these things," Tyson said. "Even with you two, I don't know how we'll be able to get rid of them."

Mason and Blake grinned at each other.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked.

"Divide and conquer?" the feline faunus replied.

"Exactly," Mason replied with a confident smile.

Blake turned to Commander Tyson. "Sir, which areas are the most infested?"

"The market and the town square are the worst hit, but those things are everywhere," he replied.

She looked at Mason. "You take the market and I'll clear the town square."

"Got it," He stretched his arms over his head and shook out his limbs in an attempt to loosen himself up. "Tell your men to leave those areas to us, Commander. Have them focus on keeping the civilians safe."

"You got it," The Commander held out his hand. "And please, call me Ross."

Blake shook Ross' extended hand. "I'm Blake."

Ross then turned to her partner, who obliged him as well. "Mason."

"Blake...Mason," Ross said. "Thank you so much. I'll take my men and we'll secure the civilians.

"Alright, if you need to reach us, our communications channel is number 117," Mason said.

Ross nodded and turned around to face the small group of soldiers around him. "Move out! And stay away from the Market and Suzaku Square! Leave them for our Huntsmen!"

Blake and Mason watched as Ross and his men hurried down the street, splitting off into smaller groups as they passed each street intersection.

"Ready to go paint the town red?" Blake heard Mason ask. She saw him reach into his pocket and pull out his scroll. He slid the thin earpiece out of the device and slipped it in his ear.

She smiled slyly. "Just don't get yourself killed. Weiss will give me hell if I let something happen to you."

"Yeah trust me, if I died, she'd kill me." He said with a wink.

Blake rolled her eyes at his lame joke, and with that, the two of them ran off in opposite directions, ready for an epic battle against the creatures of Grimm.

* * *

 **A/N: So what did you guys think of that?! This chapter was started as SOON as Beacon's Newest Arrival concluded. I absolutely couldn't wait to start working on the sequel. Anyway, this time things will be pretty different. RWBY and the other teams at Beacon will have much bigger roles this time around. Check out my bio for the link to my tumblr page! I'll answer questions, post chapter progress updates and other stuff! As always, be sure to leave a review or drop me a message to let me know how I'm doing! Until next time!**


	3. Chapter Two: Breaking Point

**A/N: Hey guys! It's the last day of 2015! I hope everyone's holidays have been great so far! Here's chapter two of Beacon's Lost Prophecy!**

* * *

Chapter Two: Breaking Point

"No..." Yang Xiao Long muttered as she fell to her knees. "NOOOOOOOO!" Tears began welling up in her eyes, and she slammed her fist into the floor. "How could you? You MONSTER!"

Ruby came running into the room. "Yang! What's wrong?!"

The blonde brawler was kneeling in front of the dorm's mini fridge, clearly in distress.

"Who…did it?" she muttered.

"Who did what?" Ruby asked, fearing what would cause Yang to react in such a ferocious way.

Yang pulled a small jar from the fridge and held it up to Ruby. "Who…put my peanut butter in the fridge?"

"Uhhhh," Ruby's voice wavered. "I think it was Weiss."

Yang slammed the fridge door shut and stood up from the floor. "Where's Weiss, Ruby?"

"I…" Ruby poked both her fingers together nervously. "I think she's in the training room!"

Yang walked past Ruby with the jar in hand.

"Where are you going?" Ruby asked.

"I'm going to beat our Ice Queen to death with a jar of frozen peanut butter. I'll be back in a… _jif_ fy."

Ruby narrowed her eyes to read the peanut butter jar, which said 'jif' on the front. "Really?" she asked in a disappointed tone.

"Yes, really."

* * *

Weiss was in the training room. The lights were dimmed and it was completely empty, save for her. She stood in the middle of the large open area that was typically used for dueling. She held Myrtenaster in front of her face, and the scar over her left eye reflected back at her through cold blade of her weapon. She closed her eyes and inhaled sharply before letting her breath seep back out through her nostrils.

Her nerves had been on edge over the past couple of weeks. Ever since Mason and Blake had left on their mission, it just wasn't the same in team RWBY's dorm. It had been three weeks since Weiss had heard from them, and she would be lying to say that she wasn't worried.

She knew full well that the both of them could handle themselves, but still, there was a part of her that feared for their safety. She needed something to take her mind off of the matter at hand, so she resorted to honing and perfecting her skills as a way to pass the time.

Weiss pointed the end of her blade at the ground in front of her, and a pale white glyph appeared on the floor. It began to spin rapidly as soon as it appeared, illuminating the area around it.

"C'mon, Weiss…" she muttered to herself as she closed her eyes once again. "Remember what Winter told you; think of the enemies that forced you to push yourself past who you were, and become who you are now…"

Weiss concentrated as hard as she could, and the glyph on the floor began to spin faster and faster as a result. Her head was clear and her breathing was steady. Everything was going well so far. Maybe this would be the day she was waiting for…maybe this would be the day where she'd finally summ-

"WEISS!"

Her concentration was immediately interrupted by the familiar sound of Yang's voice booming throughout the large room. Weiss' glyph quickly disappeared as her concentration was broken by Yang's shouting.

"WHAT?" Weiss snappily replied. "I was in the middle of something!"

"I think you know what!" Yang growled as she stormed towards Weiss with Ruby following close behind. She had a jar of peanut butter in her right hand.

"No, I don't," Weiss said. "What is your problem?!"

"THIS!" Yang held up the peanut butter in Weiss' face. "THIS IS MY PROBLEM!"

"P-peanut butter?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow. "What's wrong with it?"

Ruby sighed. "Oh boy, here we go…"

"It's _MY_ peanut butter," Yang seethed. "Do you know where I found it?"

"Ummm," Weiss hummed. "If I remember correctly, I put it in the fridge."

Yang gritted her teeth. "Why…?"

"To keep it fresh!" Weiss said, in a matter of fact tone.

"IT'S NOT FRESH ANYMORE!" Yang shouted. "It's cold and hard, JUST LIKE YOUR SOUL."

Weiss growled. "Hey, you're the one who left it out on the counter without the lid! I did you a favor!"

"Do you know how hard it is to spread cold peanut butter on a piece of bread?" Yang asked as she mimicked the action of spreading something over a slice of bread. "It's like trying spread a wad of dried cement over a saltine cracker!"

Ruby sensed the tension in the air and decided that she needed to break it up before things got out of hand.

"Guys, stop!" she pleaded. "Look at you! You're really going to tear each other apart over _peanut butter_?!"

"But it was MY peanut butter!" Yang refuted. "She shouldn't have touched it in the first place!"

"Bup, bup, bup!" Ruby pointed her finger in Yang's face, silencing her older sister. "None of that, do you hear me? We have more important things to worry about than cold peanut butter!"

Yang took in Ruby's logic for a moment and sighed.

"You're right Ruby," she said solemnly before turning to Weiss. "I'm sorry, I'm just stressed out and momma gets even more cranky when she's hungry. It's just that the tournament's coming up and we don't even know if we're going to be allowed to enter with only three people. It's kinda getting to me, that's all."

"It's okay," Weiss nodded. "We're all feeling that stress, and the fact that two of our friends are off on some mission on the other side of the world without a way to contact them doesn't make it any easier."

The smile on Ruby's face was almost cartoonish. "Aw, you guys realize what's happening here, right?"

"What?" Weiss raised an eyebrow. "We were at each other's throats a minute ago."

"Yeah!" The red-caped girl's response was emphasized by her overly happy facial expression. "But you realized there was a problem and you talked through it!"

Yang's eyes lit up. "WE'RE BONDING AS A TEAM!"

"OOOF!" Weiss was caught off-guard as Yang's arms wrapped tightly around her waist, lifting the petite heiress off the ground, ensnaring her in a rib-crushing bearhug. "Can't...breathe…"

"Woops!" Yang said as she lowered Weiss back to the ground. "Sorry, forgot how fragile you are, Ice Queen!"

"Fragile?!" Weiss said as she dusted herself off. "What do you mean by that, Xiao Long?!"

Yang grinned slyly before she was distracted by a sounds coming from outside the training area. Several students were running past the door making a commotion.

"What's going on out there?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know, but let's go find out!" Ruby pointed toward the exit. "Team RWY, transform, AND ROLL OUT!"

Weiss and Yang exchanged glances of confusion before following Ruby as she ran out of the training area.

* * *

The three of them walked into the student common area, a massive room on the east wing of the main building. There was a large group of people gathered around a small circular table. Ruby recognized Jaune, Pyrrha, and Leo amongst the crowd.

"Hey guys!" Ruby said as she, Yang, and Weiss walked up. "What's all this about?"

Jaune turned around and waved. "GUYS, YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE THIS!"

"Nora challenged Ozpin to a game of poker and he accepted," Pyrrha explained with a smile.

"Really?" Weiss asked. "Why would she do that?"

"No idea," Leo said with a laugh. "But I'll be damned if I've ever been this entertained by a poker game."

Nora was sitting across the table from Ozpin and Ren was acting as the dealer. To the left of Nora sat Violet, whose cards were face up in front of her, indicating that she had surrendered her hand of cards. Violet was chewing gum and resting an elbow on the table, twirling her light-red hair with her finger as she intently watched the remainder of the game.

On the other side of Ozpin, sat Cardin Winchester. His arms were folded across his burly chest, obviously sour at being forced to surrender as well.

Nora stared intently at the academy's headmaster from across the table as Ren laid out the final card on the table. "Your move, Professor."

"Hmmm," Ozpin hummed before throwing some plastic multicolored chips on the table. "I'm going to match your bet, Miss Valkyrie."

"Of course you are," Nora flipped the cards in her hand face-up onto the table. "Full house, Professor. Read 'em and weep."

Ozpin chuckled at the orange-haired girl's confidence. "I'm sorry, Nora. But I'm afraid you've lost again."

Nora watched with a blank stare in her eyes as the headmaster of Beacon flipped his hand onto the table.

"Four of a kind," He said with a bit of a smirk on his face. "Better luck next time, Miss Valkyrie."

"SONOFABOARBATUSK!" Nora yelled before letting her head fall forward, landing face down onto of her losing cards.

"Ouch," Ruby said. "She seemed so confident, too."

Nora sobbed into her cards as Ren patted her on the back.

Ozpin rose from his seat and leaned on his cane. "Now Miss Valkyrie, we had a bet…"

She lifted her head from the table and reached down next to her on the floor. She reappeared with a bottle of maple syrup extracted from the rarest of maple trees in Vacuo. Nora placed the bottle on the table and slid it to Professor Ozpin.

"Thank you, Nora," Ozpin said politely. "It was a pleasure playing against you."

"It was…a pleasure playing against…you, too." Nora said in between sobs over losing her prized bottle of exotic maple syrup.

Ruby watched as Ozpin smiled and turned to cut through the crowd.

"Rubes!" Yang exclaimed. "Now's your chance! Go and see if Ozpin can pull some strings and get us into the tournament!"

"You think he can do that?" Weiss asked.

"Of course he can!" Yang's tone was adamant. "He's the head honcho around here! He's gotta be able to help!"

Ruby took the opportunity and ran over to Professor Ozpin before he left. "Professor! Professor!"

Ozpin turned with his prize in hand. "Oh! How can I help you, Ruby?"

"I…I wanted to talk to you about the tournament," she replied.

He sighed. "I know what you want, Ruby. I'm sorry, but the rules say -"

"I know what they say," Ruby interrupted. "But, you have to understand our situation. I mean, sure, we would only have three people, but that wouldn't give us any sort of unfair advantage or anything. Especially since it would only be the first round. The doubles and singles rounds would be no problem for us. All I'm asking is for you to try and fit us in."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, impressed with team RWBY's young leader's persistence. After a moment, he sighed. "Alright, Ruby. I can't promise anything, but I'll talk to the tournament's organizers and I'll see what they can do."

Ruby's face lit up like a star in the night. "OH THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!"

She quickly shook Ozpin's hand and sprinted back over to the remainder of her team, leaving Ozpin, holding a jar of maple syrup.

"Wow, I look silly," he said, staring at the jar with a smile before turning and walking down the hall. "I can't wait to see Glynda's reaction when I explain this..."

* * *

Weiss, Yang, and Ruby walked through the door to their dorm room, excited that they might have the chance to compete in the tournament after all.

However, once they entered the room, their excitement began to taper off.

Weiss looked around the room. It was empty, and it felt even more so without Blake or Mason there. She pulled out her scroll and checked it.

"'No new messages…'" she muttered to herself.

"Getting lonely, are we, Ice Queen?" Yang said as she patted Weiss on the back.

Weiss shook her head. "No...I mean, I miss him though."

Yang snickered and ran over to the window. "Check it out Rubes, I'm Weiss…"

Ruby and Weiss stared at Yang as she put on a spectacle.

Staring out the window, Yang clasped her hands together and put them over her chest in a dramatic fashion. "Oh my love, how I long to feel you in my arms again!"

"Shove it, Yang," Weiss' eyes narrowed. "I'd tread carefully if I were you. Don't think I'll forget that you almost killed me over a jar of peanut butter."

"Like I said, I get cranky when I'm hungry!" Yang said, turning away from the window. She jumped up and flopped on her bed, causing its makeshift supports to creak. She kicked her boots off the edge of the bed and onto the ground before laying back on her pillow.

"Heh," Ruby giggled. "So all we need to do the next time we raid a White Fang hideout is make sure Yang hasn't eaten in three days."

"Oh ha ha, Ruby," Yang said. "Don't even joke about that."

"So what do you suppose they're doing?" Weiss asked as she sat down on the side of her bed. "Blake and Mason, I mean."

Yang shrugged. "Who knows? I haven't heard from either of them in weeks."

Ruby's head flipped down from her bunk. Her upside down face was inches away from Weiss'. "I don't know, but it's gotta be better than what we're doing here!"

"At least the Vytal Festival starts in a few days," Weiss said. "Then we'll at least have something to do."

"Well, you know what I think?" Ruby said, cheerfully. "I bet they're having the time of their lives!"

* * *

 **A/N: I'm sure they are, Ruby ;-) Anyway, you've probably noticed that a certain name was dropped in the middle of this chapter! Yes, I know Weiss said she had no siblings back in the beginning of Beacon's Newest Arrival, and I'm not changing the fact that she said it. HOWEVER, I can confirm that Winter WILL appear as Weiss' sister here in the very near future. Why did Weiss say that she was an only child, you may ask? Well you'll have to stay tuned to find out! In the meantime, check out my bio for the link to my tumblr page! I'll answer questions, post chapter progress updates and other stuff! As always, be sure to leave a review or drop me a message to let me know how I'm doing! Until next time!**


	4. Chapter Three: The Time of Their Lives

Chapter Three: "The Time of Their Lives"

Mason ran down the side streets and back alleys of Fyrefall, trying to get to the Market as fast as he could.

"Okay, Sheila, talk to me," Mason said as he leapt over an overturned trash can. "What's going on? I thought the Grimm never came close to the mountain."

" _They normally don't,"_ she replied. " _The Grimm have never been documented in this area before, so an instance of a Grimm attack of this magnitude is especially curious."_

Mason sarcastically chuckled. "Yeah, 'curious' isn't how I'd describe this."

" _How would you describe it, then?"_

"…a complete clusterfu-" he replied before he was interrupted by the sound of screaming people. "That sounds bad. Am I close to the Market?"

Sheila's electronic voice rang throughout his earpiece. " _Yeah, you're almost there. Take the next right. Be careful, though. It's a tight fit…hehe…"_

"Mind out of the gutter, Sheila!" Mason followed her directions and cut a hard right through a tight alley. He shimmied sideways between two brick buildings, the mortar narrowly scraping by the flesh of his nose. Once he popped out the other side, he dusted himself off and continued toward the Market.

His half-faunus senses weren't as keen as Blake's, but his hypersensitive hearing picked up the ambient noises all around him. People were screaming, guns were firing, and Beowolves were roaring.

He shuddered at the thought of Beowolves. Ever since the incident during his initiation, the sounds that the bipedal creatures made sent chills down his spine.

Mason soon emerged from the alley and found himself in a large, open area. He looked around and saw the chaos that had overtaken the Market district of the town.

* * *

Blake sprinted across the rooftops, using her agility and skills to vault between rooftops en route to the town's square. She could hear everything from above the town. The screams, the roars, the gunfire…everything.

The Grimm gave off a pungent odor that smelled like death, and the sheer amount of the creatures in the city filled Blake's Faunus nostrils with the scent of death. She wanted to gag at the thought of it.

When she finally reached the center of the town, she saw how truly bad it was.

The creatures of Grimm were crawling over Suzaku Square. A pack of Beowolves was hanging from the Town Hall building, tearing the beautiful wooden paneling from its frame. Boarbatusks were rolling around and barreling into buildings like runaway pinballs.

Blake saw a man and a woman being chased by a pair of two legged Creeps that furiously hopped after them on their two legs. They ran into a nearby house and shut the door just as the lizard-like Grimm began to beat on the door with their large tails.

The time to act was now, and Blake shoved a cartridge of ammunition into the grip of Gambol Shroud with a satisfying click. She leapt down from her perch atop the building and opened fire on the two Creeps trying to beat down the couple's door. Six shots later, and the creatures exploded into dark mist.

Without wasting a moment, she turned her focus to the Beowolves tearing apart the Town Hall. There were seven of them in total. Blake stuck two of her fingers in her mouth and whistled sharply.

The creatures turned their heads sharply and snarled before dropping down from the building in front of her, giving Blake their undivided attention. Saliva dripped from their jowls, and their fierce red eyes stared daggers through Blake.

She remained unfazed, and charged the pack with Gambol Shroud and its razor sharp sheath in hand. Slashing away like a whirlwind, Blake was a complete blur as she decimated the first three Beowolves in a few effortless slashes of her sword.

The remainder of the pack, however, didn't make things easy for Blake.

One of the creatures swiped its deadly claws at torso. Her reflexes were fast enough for her to use the sheath of her blade to deflect its attack at the last second, sending a shower of sparks skittering through the air. Blake quickly capitalized on her deflection and rammed Gambol Shroud through the chest of the attacking Beowolf.

She quickly pushed the disintegrating Grimm aside and fired her weapon's pistol function at the three remaining Beowolves. They weren't as easy to kill as the Creeps, but the shots she fired were more than enough to set them off balance, allowing Blake to move in for the kill.

Her skill and acrobatic prowess was too much for the Beowolves to handle. Fight as they may, each of them suffered the same fate at the hand of Blake's weapon, and they burst into darkness.

She sucked fresh air into her lungs, as the putrid smell in the air was lessened as a result of the death of the Beowolf pack.

Once she was satisfied, Blake straightened herself and was about to chase after the Boarbatusks that were ricocheting off of lamp posts, mailboxes, and smashing into the walls of other buildings when suddenly, a loud roar echoed through the air.

She recognized the roar as belonging to another Beowolf, but this one sounded bigger…and angrier.

Blake frantically looked around, trying to figure out where the noise had originated from.

The Beowolf roared again, much louder this time, causing Blake to cover her ears. She looked up towards the large bell affixed to the top of the Town Hall building.

A massive Beowolf was perched inside the bell's housing. White spiky armor covered the creature's entire back and face, even more so than the Beowolves that she'd just fought.

It dragged its menacing long ivory white claws across the metal face of the bell, sending sparks falling to the ground in front of Blake. She watched as the Grimm then leapt down from the top of Town Hall. She hurried to dodge out of the way as it crashed into the ground in front of her.

The Grimm was at least twice Blake's height, and it was twice as deadly as the ones she'd just fought.

She readied herself, prepared to take on the monstrous Beowolf. Blake pointed the blade of Gambol Shroud threateningly at its chest

Then, the Beowolf did something odd. It began to bark ferociously.

But not at Blake. It wasn't even looking at her while it made the strange vocalizations. She turned her head only to see that the creature was barking towards the Boarbatusks on the other side of the square. Upon hearing the Beowolf's calls, the two Boarbatusks rushed to its aid.

Blake was at a loss for words. The Grimm calling for help? Professor Port never mentioned such a thing during his lectures. He'd said that they often travel in packs, but nothing about different species of Grimm communicating amongst one another.

Just as she had begun to question how she was going to tackle such a deadly situation, the shouting of soldiers echoed behind her. Blake turned around and watched as they poured into Suzaku Square. She quickly recognized one of the soldiers as Commander Tyson.

"We got an Alpha over here, keep your distance!" he shouted. "Focus your fire on the big guy!"

Tyson ran over to Blake and pointed his rifle at the Alpha Beowolf. It snarled and roared in response.

"Think you could use a hand?" Tyson asked as he loaded a dust ammunition cartridge into his rifle.

Blake sighed. "I might need a couple, actually."

Tyson nodded. "You're the Huntress, here. You have rank over us. Just say the word."

A smile crossed Blake's face. Tyson obviously wasn't listening to Mason earlier when he'd said that they were only 'Huntsmen in training.' He must have been too caught up in the fight to catch on.

"Alright," Blake said. "Open fire."

"LIGHT 'EM UP!" Tyson shouted to his men before pulling the trigger on his rifle and unleashing a flurry of dust-laced bullets unto the Alpha Beowolf. His team did the same, sending a hailstorm of bullets toward the massive creature. The Boarbatusk on the other hand, was notorious for having incredibly thick armor, so bullets did little to no damage to the creatures. Bullets were, however, just enough to distract the Beowolf long enough for Blake to use a combination of her agility and her semblance to charge the smaller creatures with her blade.

She ran toward the stocky creatures as they braced themselves anticipating her strikes. Blake suddenly activated her semblance, creating a shadow clone of herself before leaping onto the back of the Boarbatusk and straddling the creature. She found a crack in the small Grimm's armor and stuck the barrel of Gambol Shroud inside and fired several rounds into its fleshy interior.

Immediately, the Boarbatusk dropped to the ground and evaporated, leaving Blake with the other one to deal with.

The creature immediately began to spin in the same manner of a wheel in a fury and charged her. Blake barely had enough time to raise her sword in defense before the Boarbatusk crashed into the blade, bowling into her and sending the both of them tumbling down the dirt road. Blake landed on her back and saw the Boarbatusk flying towards her through the air, about to land on top of her.

She instinctively raised her weapon and fired it straight at the airborne Grimm. The rounds penetrated the creature's soft underbelly, killing it and causing it to evaporate just before it would've landed on Blake.

The feline Faunus didn't have time to catch her breath, however, as the militia was still firing at the Alpha Beowolf, trying to buy Blake some time. She wiped the dirt from her face and picked up her weapon, sprinting towards the last remaining Grimm in Suzaku Square.

"AAAGGGHHHHHH!" Blake released a guttural war cry as she leapt onto the creature's back, holding onto its bony spikes for support.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Tyson shouted to his men. "YOU MIGHT HIT HER!"

Tyson's men promptly obeyed and halted their gunfire as Blake tried to hang on to the Beowolf. It thrashed around, trying to reach Blake with its knife-like claws.

"ALL…I WANTED…WAS TO READ A BOOK…AND TAKE A WARM BATH! I'M ON THE LAST CHAPTER!" she shouted into the Beowolf's large ear as she repeatedly stabbed it in the back with Gambol Shroud. "YOU COULDN'T LET ME HAVE THAT, COULD YOU?!"

The Beowolf snarled in pain as it bucked around, trying to throw Blake off.

"AND TO MAKE THINGS WORSE, YOU SMELL LIKE SHIT!" Blake drove buried her sword to the hilt inside of the foul-smelling soulless creature.

The Beowolf let loose one final roar of defiance before it collapsed face first into the dirt with Gambol Shroud buried deep in its back.

Blake had a crazed look on her face as she sucked fresh oxygen into her lungs.

The soldiers erupted in celebration while Tyson cautiously approached Blake. "Are…are you okay?"

Blake's crazed eyes snapped onto his, and she stared into his soul.

Tyson flinched backwards. "You don't look so good."

After a few more seconds, Blake realized that she in fact looked like a lunatic and quickly tried to compose herself.

"Ah, yes," she said as she brushed the dusty brown dirt from her black vest. "I'm fine. I just need a minute."

Tyson spun around, eyeballing the area within Suzaku Square. "You cleared out this whole thing?"

Blake nodded as she pulled her blade from the Grimm's body, causing the fallen Beowolf to disintegrate. "Yeah, it looks that way."

"Well what about your partner?" the commander asked. "Do you think he needs any help?"

After a moment's thought, Blake waved it off. "Nah, I'm sure he's fine."

A few seconds later, a scream echoed through the air, followed by a strange rumbling sound.

Blake and Tyson turned their heads and saw something that made them scratch their heads.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Mason was screaming as he held on to the back of a runaway Ursa Major as it passed by the other side of Suzaku Square, with another pack of Beowolves in hot pursuit.

"Oh, he's fine, is he?" Tyson asked with a raised eyebrow.

Blake's shoulders sank as she exhaled a long and deep sigh. "Let's go get him…"

* * *

Mason clung on to the jet black fur of the Ursa Major for dear life as it raced past the buildings of Fyrefall.

"SHEILA!" he shouted. "THIS WAS A VERY BAD IDEA!"

" _Try the emergency brake!"_ the helpful A.I suggested in his ear.

He released the steel blades encased inside of his right handed gauntlet and rammed them deep into the back of the Ursa.

The giant bear-like creature roared in pain, but didn't slow down.

"THE EMERGENCY BRAKE DOESN'T WORK!" he replied. The whole situation felt like he was back on the freeway, clinging to the back of the runaway Paladin. "I'm starting to get Déjà vu, Sheila!"

" _Yeah, if I could feel Déjà vu, I'd be having it too!"_ she said. " _I think you might want to get off this roller coaster ride!"_

"Good idea," Mason said. "Then we can figure out how to deal with these guys."

He pulled himself up and tried to get his footing on the massive Grimm, which was no easy task. Even for a Grimm as large as an Ursa, it was still incredibly fast and agile. Every time it moved, the muscles of the creature rippled throughout its body like a wave in a swimming pool.

Once he finally managed to stand on two feet, he eyed a building up ahead that had a low hanging roof - a perfect landing target.

"Alright Mason, you can do this," he muttered to himself, trying to get in the right frame of mind. "One...two...thre-"

He never got to 'three.'

A Beowolf had somehow managed to catch up to the Ursa and tackled Mason clean off its back. The next thing he knew, he was sliding across the dirt. The Beowolf landed on all fours, digging its claws into the ground as it slid to a stop.

Mason jumped to his feet and the blades in his gauntlets emerged with a metal screech, casting sparks over the dirt road. The Beowolf slashed at him repeatedly and he blocked its attack with his bladed hands.

Mason countered with attacks of his own, targeting the gangly arms of the creature. The Beowolf blocked his first strike, but the second found its mark, and the blades penetrated its arm, cutting straight into the muscle and bone marrow.

The Beowolf snarled in pain, and Mason tried to pull his claws from the creature's arm, but they wouldn't budge. The creature of Grimm took this opportunity to strike, and swung its free arm into Mason's stomach, sending him flying backward and ripping his metal claws free from its arm.

"That...hurt," he said in between breaths. He got back to his feet and lunged at the Beowolf. It tried to raise its arms in defense, but Mason was faster, and drove his claws deep into the Beowolf's chest.

He stood up and watched as it disappeared into a black mist, sighing with relief.

" _Mason, turn around!"_ Sheila's voice frantically rang in his ear. " _Multiple contacts on our rear!"_

Mason whirled around and what he saw made him take a step backward in shock.

The Ursa Major was standing about thirty yards away. In front of it, stood three more Beowolves. The creatures just stood there staring at him menacingly in the middle of the road.

"Sheila, w-what are they doing?" he asked uneasily.

" _I don't know,"_ she replied. " _They're just standing there…"_

He laughed nervously. "Wasn't there uh…more of them?"

" _Yeah, there was,"_ her voice seemed to trail off. " _Wait. Oh no…"_

"What's wrong?"

" _We're surrounded,"_ she said, grimly. " _Whatever you do, don't move…"_

His head whipped around, searching for the veiled threat. "I don't see anything!"

" _There's multiple heat signatures all around us,"_ Sheila explained. " _They're in the alleys!"_

His eyes darted between the alleys on either side of him, and saw red glowing eyes staring back at him. "Oh…there they are…"

The Beowolves slowly slinked out of the alleys, five in total, and surrounded him. The three Beowolves that stood with the Ursa Major also joined them, surrounding Mason and boxing him in a tight circle.

His hands shook nervously, and sweat rolled down his forehead. "Check Aura levels, Sheila. How am I holding up?"

" _You're in the green. Your Aura is stable and holding at 81 percent."_ Sheila said.

"So…I think I can take maybe three of them before they tear me limb from limb?" he jokingly muttered to Sheila. "Be honest, what are the odds of me getting out of this alive?"

" _You REALLY don't want me to answer that."_ she replied.

"Heh, thought so," he quickly spun around, making sure that his attackers didn't get the jump on him from behind. "It looks like we're surrounded by death and faced with impossible odds with little to no hope of succeeding, is that right?"

" _Basically."_ Sheila replied.

A daring smile appeared on his face. "I like our chances."

He planted his feet in the ground and dashed forward, spinning around like a whirlwind and cutting two of the Grimm repeatedly in the chest. They snarled and the remaining Beowolves immediately closed in on him, converging on his position.

Mason fought as hard as he could, blocking and striking in quick succession. However, he couldn't block every attack. Thankfully, his Aura absorbed most of the damage.

" _73 percent…"_ Sheila said before a Beowolf slashed its claws across his aura-protected back. "67 percent…"

"Still in the green?" Mason quickly spat out as he spun around kicked the Beowolf in the stomach, knocking it away from him.

" _Yes, but if you keep taking hits like that, it won't be!"_ she said.

Mason ducked a Beowolf's swinging arm that was intended for his head and punched his clawed gauntlet through its abdomen. As soon as it disintegrated, another Beowolf quickly took its place.

Another hit caught him in the ribs hard and Sheila spoke in his ear again. " _59 percent, you're Aura's now in the yellow!"_

Mason quickly realized that despite his previous display of bravado, he truly was fighting a losing battle. He remembered what Yang had taught him during their sparring matches.

"Turtle up! Keep your hands up and your chin tucked. Protect any part of your body that you can't live without," the blonde brawler would say. "Only strike when the opportunity presents itself."

Mason took Yang's advice to heart and transitioned into a strictly defensive stance, protecting his face and vital organs from the Grimm onslaught, and only striking when it was absolutely necessary.

Still, despite his efforts, he couldn't block or deflect everything that the wall of teeth and ivory claws could throw at him.

Sheila's voice counted down as each of the Beowolf's hits slowly cut away at his Aura.

" _53 percent…46 percent…39 percent…"_

He began to feel their attacks more and more as his was Aura depleted by the ferocious Grimm. However, that isn't the only feeling he felt.

As the threat of almost certain death drew nearer with each strike that depleted his aura, he felt the desperation grow. Being confronted by a life or death situation fueled him with adrenaline. He knew that once his Aura broke, the renewed energy he felt coursing through his veins would only last so long before exhaustion took over. But for the time being, it at least allowed him to think with a clear head.

A Beowolf tried to claw at his face, but Mason raised the blades of his gauntlets and swatted it aside.

"Sheila, I have a plan," he said. "Find me an exit. As soon as my Aura is gone, I'm fighting my way out of this."

" _You got it, just try not to die,"_ she replied. " _29 percent…"_

"Heh, I don't plan on dying here today."

He held fast with his defensive tactics, parrying as many strikes as he could, while the ones he couldn't continued to chip away at his Aura.

" _18 percent…Warning, you're now entering the red zone!"_

"Got it!" he grunted. The mob of Grimm had him on the ropes. "Just keep going!"

" _12 percent…9 percent…"_

He could feel the hits as if there was no Aura at all between him and the Beowolves, and the only thing protecting him from bodily harm was practically destroyed.

" _4 percent…get ready to do whatever you're going to do!"_ she advised.

Mason turtled up even more, crouching closer to the ground as Sheila continued her countdown.

" _3…2…1…"_

The sound of Mason's Aura breaking was like a large, thin sheet of glass shattering into tiny fragments, accompanied by a large flash of blinding light.

The Beowolves stopped attacking and recoiled, shielding themselves for a moment. That moment was all Mason needed to turn the tide of the fight.

He exploded out of his crouching position and lunged at the nearest Beowolf, aiming for its neck. One quick motion later and its head was separated from its body. His fighting style had deteriorated from exhaustion. His strikes were sloppy; enough to make Professor Goodwitch recoil in disgust. He could hear her voice now, telling him to straighten his back and stay focused, or he'd end up as Beowolf food. He couldn't help but smile at the irony of that statement. Regardless, he was running on fumes, propelled by pure adrenaline and nothing else. Even then, it still wasn't enough.

He kept moving, taking advantage of the blinded Grimm, and stabbing and slicing as fast as his arms could move. His legs felt like lead and his chest was burning with exhaustion. By the time the remaining Grimm had regained their senses, he'd managed to kill two more of them, and only four remained. Mason still kept up his pace, though his efforts were less effective now that the Beowolves had regained their sight.

He charged toward one of them and quickly spun around it. The creature didn't have time to think before Mason rammed his blades into the back of its skull.

The Beowolf exploded into black mist, and from out of that mist, two of the three remaining Grimm had charged him, running on all fours. His energy reserves were spent, and he didn't have time to dodge out of the way. He did the only thing he could do; he threw his arms up across his face in defense.

The two Beowolves each grabbed a hold of each of his gauntlets with their mouths and pried his arms away from his body until he looked like a he was imitating the letter "t".

They bit down on his gauntlets, puncturing the steel with their sharp teeth and penetrating the skin beneath. He yelled in agony as their teeth along with the sharp metal shrapnel from his gauntlet dug into his arms and wrists. The more he struggled, the harder they bit down and pulled at his arms, mangling the steel and tearing his flesh.

The third Beowolf had made his way around to Mason's rear and pushed down on his shoulders, causing him to drop to his knees.

" _NO!"_ Sheila shouted helplessly.

He could feel the hot breath of the creature as well as its teeth scrape against the nape of his neck as it slowly opened its mouth and prepared to clamp down.

Suddenly, there was a roar that filled the air, and the Beowolf froze in its tracks.

The Ursa Major that had been standing on the opposite side of the road had begun to wander over toward them.

The Beowolf with its mouth around Mason's neck whimpered slightly, and the Ursa roared again, as if telling it to back off.

The Beowolf reluctantly obeyed and released Mason's neck.

" _Get up!"_ Sheila's voice pleaded. " _Please! GET BACK UP!"_

There was nothing he could do as the Ursa approached him. He tried to wiggle his arms free, but the Beowolves bit down harder, causing him to yelp in pain.

The Ursa Major walked until it was nose to nose with Mason. It stared at him with blazing red eyes, and he defiantly stared right back.

The Ursa stood up on its hind legs and reared it's clawed paw backwards, ready to end his life.

It was utter silence, save for the constant stream of blood dripping from his arms that begun to pool on the ground beside him. He closed his eyes, and numerous thoughts crossed his mind at that moment. All the regrets he'd had, the things he'd yet to accomplish. He thought of his friends, his teachers, Weiss…

He didn't have much energy, and he could hardly focus on anything, but if this really was the end, he wanted Weiss to be the last thing on his mind. The memories they both shared filled his thoughts with happiness, and in that singular moment, he was at peace.

Then, all of that was interrupted when he opened his eyes, and found himself face to face with the tip of a strange looking blade. It took a moment before he realized that the blade had sliced through the Ursa Major's neck, and was now inches away from his eye.

Confusion flooded his exhausted mind until he saw another similar looking blade penetrate the Ursa Major's neck. The blades were pulled in opposite directions severing the Ursa's head from its shoulders. At the same time, the sound of gunfire sounded off from behind him. The pressure on his arms was released as they were released from the mouths of the Beowolves.

He let his arms limply fall to his side. He looked behind him and saw Blake standing there with the smoking barrel of Gambol Shroud in her hand, and the remnants of the Beowolves.

He then slowly turned his head forward, to catch a glimpse of who'd killed the massive Ursa.

Mason watched as the man sheathed both of his swords at his hip. He wore a dusty, pale brown cargo vest with a white tank top underneath and a rope necklace with a large fang tied to it. Mason recognized the face of the man as the one whom he'd come halfway across the world to find.

"Damn, kid, you look like hell." Shaw smirked.

If he had the strength, Mason would have raised his hand and flipped off the former White Fang Lieutenant. Instead, he just fell face first into the dirt and slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! Hope you liked it! Wow, this is the first time in a while that I've posted two chapters within a week of each other! I don't want to promise weekly updates, but I'll definitely do my best to get back on a weekly schedule of some sort. If you guys want updates on how the chapters are coming along, check out my bio for the link to my tumblr page! I'll answer questions, post chapter progress updates and other stuff! As always, be sure to leave a review or drop me a message here to let me know how I'm doing! Until next time!**


	5. Chapter Four: Back to the Drawing Board

**A/N: Thanks for being so patient! I'm really sorry for the wait, but here I am! Here's chapter four!**

Chapter Four: Back to the Drawing Board

 _Mason…_

"Who are you?"

 _You must wake up._

"What are you talking about? What's going on?"

 _He cannot succeed. You mustn't let him be awakened._

"Who shouldn't be awakened? Where are you? What are you talking about?"

 _You must wake. Stop the madness before it begins._

"What madness? WHO ARE YOU?!"

 _Continue your journey. It is your destiny._

* * *

Mason's eyes shot open and he lurched upright with a gasp. His formerly white t-shirt was now tarnished with dirt and grime and soaked with sweat. He took several deep breaths, trying to lower his accelerated heart rate. He glanced around the room he was in. It was a small bedroom, most likely a small house or cabin.

"What in the shit was that about?" he asked himself as he wiped the sweat from his face.

"Well well," a voice said from the doorway behind him. "It's about time you woke up."

Mason's head whirled around and he caught side of Shaw leaning against the doorframe. "Oh, it's you…where am I?"

"My place," the burly faunus replied with his arms folded across his chest. "You took a hell of a beating, kid."

"Yeah, what's new?" Mason laughed half-heartedly. "How long was I out?"

"Two days," he replied. "I thought you were done for after your aura broke."

"Yeah, thanks for the help, by the way." Mason groaned as he pulled himself out of the bed.

Shaw raised an eyebrow. "You sure you don't wanna rest some more?"

"I've been on my ass for two days, I think I've rested enough."

Mason's muscles ached with every movement he made, but he didn't complain. It was still better than being dead.

He glanced down at his arms and saw no marks from the attack, but he still felt the sting in his mind as if they were still there.

"Your weapons were trashed," Shaw said, apologetically. He pointed over to a small cardboard box in the corner of the room. "Blake and I had to cut 'em off you so you could heal, otherwise you would've kept bleeding all over my carpet."

Mason walked over to the corner and peered into the box. He saw several large pieces of sharp twisted metal coated in dried blood.

"Damn…" he muttered. "I've had those gauntlets ever since I designed them back at Signal."

"Eh, we'll go get you a sword or something at the shop down the street." Shaw said.

"No, no," Mason protested. "I can't handle a sword to save my life. I'll think of something."

Shaw shrugged. "If you say so. C'mon, Blake's gonna want to see you."

Mason hobbled over to Shaw and followed him out the door and into the living room. There, Blake was sitting on the couch reading one of her books.

"Hey," she said, looking up from her novel. "How was your nap?"

He sighed. "Pretty refreshing. How did you guys get me up the mountain?"

"We're not on the mountain," Shaw laughed as he patted Mason on the shoulder. "Didn't you read the note?"

Mason took a moment to think. "The note?"

"The one that I gave to that cute innkeeper to give to you when you arrived."

"Ohhhh that one," Mason shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't have time to read it before that giant shitstorm rolled on into town."

"Well, if you had read it," Shaw explained. "You'd know that I never had a cabin on the mountain in the first place."

"Wait, what?" Mason asked. "Then why would you tell me to meet you there?"

Shaw smiled. "Because I knew that hobbit of a girl, Neo, was listening in on our conversation. I wasn't going to give away my actual location."

"So you gave them a fake location to throw them off," Mason guessed. "That way they're gonna just climb the mountain, thinking that we're up there."

"Exactly," Shaw replied. "With a bit of luck, they'll freeze before they even realize we were never there to begin with."

Mason sighed with relief. "Well at least we don't actually have to climb that deathtrap."

"Oh hey," Blake said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out Mason's scroll. "Someone's been wondering about you."

He sighed as he walked over to Blake and retrieved his scroll. Mason pressed the button in the center and opened the device. "Hey, Sheila!"

 _"Hey, look who it is!"_ she said with a hint of sass in her electronic voice. _"It's Mr. 'I almost became a buffet for a horde of Grimm!'"_

"Yeah, I missed you too." Mason said with a laugh.

 _"I should let you know, I've detected a network connection to the CCT in the vicinity," Sheila informed him. "You might want to use it to contact your team back at Beacon."_

"Oh, thanks for the heads up!" Mason turned to Shaw. "We're outside the range of any of the CCT Relay dishes, how's Sheila getting a signal?"

"It's a little relay dish of my own," he pointed toward the ceiling. "It's on the roof. It's how I keep in contact with the other White Fang defectors."

"There are others?" Mason asked.

Shaw nodded. "That little stunt you pulled at the warehouse provided an opportunity for a lot of members to abandon their posts if they wished, and some of them did."

"Well at least some good came out of it," Mason said. He held his scroll in his hand and motioned toward the front door. "I'm gonna go outside for a minute. Gotta get some fresh air and stuff."

Shaw nodded and Blake went back to reading her book as Mason walked out of the door and into the streets of Fyrefall.

Shaw's house was on the outer rim of town, which wasn't as badly hit as Fyrefall's interior when the Grimm attacked. Still, Mason could see the recovery effort taking place as carts of lumber and debris were carried throughout the town's streets.

Mason turned away from the bustling streets of Fyrefall and headed into the alleyway beside Shaw's house. He pulled out his scroll and flicked his finger across the screen several times before bringing the device up to his ear.

* * *

Weiss was alone in the dorm, sitting on her bed. Deep in pensive concentration, she had her nose buried deep in a textbook that she'd acquired for class next semester. She found it quite annoying when her scroll vibrated and rang loudly, breaking her focus.

Irritated, she didn't even bother to look at the screen before she answered.

"Hello?" Weiss said in an annoyed tone.

 _"Hey, Princess."_

Immediately, her heart skipped a beat and she shot up from her bed, standing upright and causing her books to fall to the ground. "M-Mason? Is that you?"

 _"The one and only!"_ he replied.

Hearing his voice sent a warm comforting feeling coursing through her body. She opened her mouth to speak and could hardly hide her excitement.

"Oh my god, Mason! Where are you? Is everything okay?" she frantically asked. "Is Blake with you? Why haven't you called?"

He laughed on the other end of the line. _"Relax, Weiss. I'm fine, Blake's fine, we're both fine."_

"Good," Weiss sighed with relief. "Where are you?"

 _"We're in Fyrefall,"_ he replied. _"It's a small town at the base of Mount Solstice. There was a bit of an incident with the Grimm when we got here."_

"What happened?" she asked with a slight panic in her voice. "Were you hurt?!"

 _"No, not anything serious,"_ he said with a sigh. _"Just a few scratches, but I'm alright."_

Weiss huffed. "Why haven't you called? It's been three weeks!"

 _"I'm really sorry, Weiss,"_ he said. _"Once we crossed into Mistral, we lost all connection with the CCT."_

"Then how are you talking to me now?"

 _"Well…"_ Mason's voice trailed off. _"The connection Shaw's letting us use now isn't exactly legal."_

"Oh," Weiss strolled over to the glass sliding door and walked out onto the balcony. "So you found him?"

 _"Yeah, we did,"_ he replied. _"Or, he found us."_

Weiss leaned against the balcony's railing casually. "Is he being difficult?"

 _"No,"_ he replied. _"He's actually really helpful."_

"Hmph," Weiss huffed. "Good. He'd be wise to stay that way."

 _"Oh, I don't think we'll have any problems with him,"_ Mason laughed. _"How's everyone else?_ _Yang? Ruby? Zwei?"_

"They're fine," she said. "Ruby's out walking Zwei and Yang's training for the tournament…Oh! Ozpin said he'd let us compete in the tournament with three people!"

Mason laughed loudly. _"No way!"_

"Yeah!" Weiss replied. "It's all thanks to Ruby, really. She convinced him that having three people would only be a handicap on ourselves, and that we knew what we were signing up for."

 _"Oh wow!"_ he said. _"I know you guys will kick some ass!"_

"If you don't do something stupid and get yourself killed," Weiss said. "Then maybe you'll be able to catch us in the tournament before it's over."

 _"Yeah, I'd like that,"_ She could tell he was smiling on the other end of the line. _"So how have you been?"_

"I've been fine," she replied. "Winter stopped by last week for a few days. She tried to help me with my summoning technique."

 _"Still no luck?"_

"Nope. I thought I had it once until Yang-" Weiss realized that she was getting salty and took a deep breath before continuing. "Never mind. I'll get it eventually. It'll just take some time."

 _"You'll get it right, I know it,"_ he said. _"And I'll be there to see it when you do."_

"Oh I know you will," Weiss said with a hint of sass in her voice. "I won't forgive you if you aren't."

 _"Oh I look forward to it,"_ he said.

Weiss bit her lip. "Do you think you'll be coming home soon?"

 _"Hopefully,"_ he said with a hint of optimism in his voice. _"I miss you."_

She felt a brief flutter in her stomach that made her smile. "I miss you too."

There was a small silence between the both of them as they took comfort in each other's words. It lasted until Mason spoke again.

 _"Alright Weiss, I have to go now. The sooner Blake and I get what we're looking for, the sooner we get to come home."_

"Then what are you doing talking to me?" she said. "Go do what you have to do and come back home!"

 _"Alright, will do, Princess,"_ he said with a smile. _"I'll see you soon."_

"I'll see you soon, Buster." Weiss said before the line went dead.

She held her scroll in her hand for a moment before closing it with a sigh. She then pushed off from the railing and walked back into the dorm with a smile plastered on her face.

* * *

Mason smiled as he slid his finger across his scroll and ended the call. She'd mentioned her sister, Winter, whom he'd only learned about recently. After initially denying that she had any siblings at first, Weiss later admitted that she'd kept the actual details of her family a secret because she wasn't sure whether or not she could trust him.

Even after admitting the truth, Weiss was relatively quiet on the subject of Winter. It was clear from the way Weiss talked about her that she and her older sister were close, but the heiress was adamant that Winter could be…somewhat abrasive.

He'd made a remark about it running in the family and Weiss had smacked him in the back of the head.

Nonetheless, it was relieving to hear her voice after the hellish experience he'd had a few days prior.

 _"Awww,"_ Sheila cooed. _"It sounds like she missed you!"_

"Sheila, who gave you permission to spy on my calls?" he asked with a playful smile.

 _"Hey, I can't help it that you're practically talking to me in the first place!"_

He laughed and leaned against the side of Shaw's building. His arms felt somewhat naked without his gauntlets strapped to them. It was a strange feeling, and it was very offsetting.

"Sheila, I need to re-forge my gauntlets…"

 _"Yeah, I was going to suggest that,"_ she said. _"I sincerely hope that you aren't considering just remaking your old, nameless gauntlets, are you?"_

"M-maybe," he nervously replied. "What's wrong with that?"

 _"You've got to be kidding me,"_ she sighed. _"They were incredibly ineffective! Have you ever actually won a fight with those things?"_

"Well-" he began to reply.

 _"No! You haven't!"_ Sheila interrupted. _"They sucked and you know it."_

Mason was at a loss for words. "Well…they seemed like a good idea at the time! And they looked cool…"

 _"Seriously?"_ she said. _"You put up with those shitty blades on your wrists because they looked cool?"_

"C'mon, cut me some slack, okay?"

 _"No!"_ Sheila said. _"If you're making new weapons, then you need to make them more effective."_

"But I don't want to use a gun or anything," he replied. "I'll probably end up shooting my eye out or something. I don't know how to use anything else."

 _"Then find a way to improve the design,"_ Sheila said with a firm tone. _"Otherwise, you'll be right back in the same boat you're in now."_

"Improve the design…" he muttered, stroking his chin. "Well, regular blades can only strike in one direction and that's the direction that the edge is facing. You can't do anything more than stab or slash at your opponent. If there were only a way to make the blade omnidirectional, then I would be able use it from all sides…"

 _"Good! You're using your head!"_ she said. _"Now how do you plan on making an omnidirectional blade?"_

"I have no clue," he replied. "The only way to pull that off would be to…wait…"

 _"What?"_ Sheila asked. _"You have an idea there, champ?"_

"Hmm, I might," Mason hummed as he pushed off from the wall and began to pace in the dirt. "I asked Weiss one time about how Dust was actually mined. She said that it's basically a big drill that cuts away at the rock until they get to the ore. She mentioned that the drills consumed an enormous amount of resources, and that her father was developing a new piece of technology that would replace the drill with a new Dust energy-based cutting tool."

 _"Uh-huh,"_ she replied. _"And you think that's going to help you somehow?"_

"Ugh, Weiss won't forgive me for this," he groaned. "Sheila, can you…hack into the SDC database from here?"

 _"Can do,"_ Sheila replied in a chipper manner. _"It'll take a few minutes to bypass security protocols, though. What am I looking for?"_

"Look for schematics, prototypes...anything to do with a Dust-based cutting tool," he said.

 _"On it,"_ she replied. It only took a minute before she spoke again, bringing good news. _"Aha! I think I found exactly what you're looking for."_

Mason pulled out his scroll and activated the screen. As he studied it, his face lit up like a light. "Oh, hell yeah."

* * *

Shaw and Blake were startled when Mason burst through the door in excitement. Shaw nearly dropped the tea kettle that he was carrying to the stove.

"Quick, I need a Magnetic Stabilizing Ring, an Electromagnetic Field Conductor, a Cycling Field Energizer, and tons of other shit," he said, nearly out of breath. "Where can I get that?"

"Whoa, that's a pretty tall order there, kid," Shaw said. "You can probably find that stuff in town, but I don't know for sure. Why?"

A grin crossed Mason's face. "You'll see. I'll be back in a bit."

They watched as Mason bolted back out the door, only to reappear seconds later.

"Oh, is there a Dust Shop anywhere in town?" he asked.

Shaw nodded. "Yeah, at the corner of Powell and Market street."

"Thanks," Mason said before disappearing outside, shutting the door behind him.

"What was that about?" Blake asked.

Shaw shrugged as he returned to the table with a fresh pot of tea. "Beats me. Don't know what he'd want those components for though."

Blake pushed her empty cup towards him and Shaw refilled her cup. "If I had to guess, he's rebuilding his gauntlets."

"Heh, could've fooled me. Sounds like he's building a miniature power plant," Shaw said as he sat down at the table across from Blake. "Now that I think about it, this is the most that you've spoken to me since I brought the both of you here."

"I'm sorry," she said, setting down the cup. "I'm just not sure I trust you yet."

Shaw smiled sadly. "I'd consider you a fool if you did."

"Are you saying I shouldn't trust you?" Blake raised her eyebrow.

"Of course not," Shaw said. "I'm only saying that you need to be careful of who you trust. Especially considering your past."

Blake sipped her tea. "Well I've done fine job of that so far."

"It took a lot of courage to leave when you did," Shaw said. "Right in the middle of a mission like that."

"I was tired of it. The violence, the anger," she replied. "Who wants to live a life filled with hatred?"

"Adam, apparently," Shaw sighed. "The orders he gives some of the men…they're downright unspeakable."

"He wasn't always like that," she said. "But somewhere along the line he became possessive and his hunger for power became insatiable."

Shaw refilled his empty cup of tea. "That, my dear is an understatement. He's using the White Fang to accomplish his own personal goals."

Blake leaned in across the table. "What exactly is he after, Sebastian?"

The older faunus glanced around the room, trying to find the words he was looking for. "Have you heard…the legend of The Mad King?"

"Yeah," Blake said. "But what does an old myth have to do with it?"

"Hmmm," Shaw hummed. "I think it's best if we wait for Mason to get back. He needs to hear it too."

"Fine," Blake said emptied the steaming contents of the cup into her mouth. "But you'd better have a point to all this."

* * *

Ozpin stood in his office with his coffee mug in hand. He stared out the window as a flock of birds flew by, gracefully flapping their wings in unison with one another against the backdrop of a bright and sunny sky. It was serene view to be sure, and given the uncertainty of the days ahead, Ozpin took the sight in as much as he could before the uneasiness of the days to come would settle in.

Ozpin's moment of serenity was cut short before the sound of his office door opening caused him to turn his head as Goodwitch, Qrow, and the unmistakable figure of James Ironwood stepped inside.

"Is everything in order for the tournament?" Ozpin asked.

Ironwood nodded. "Security will be heightened ten fold for the duration. If the Council won't cancel the it, then you can be damn sure it'll be protected."

Qrow poured himself a glass of whiskey from the bottle on the counter and Goodwitch shot him a dirty look. Qrow just shrugged it off as he continued pouring.

"Have you heard anything from Mason?" Ozpin asked, looking in the direction of Qrow.

He sipped the glass and shook his head. "No, nothing new anyway. Last I heard, he was crossing into Mistral to get intel on whatever in the hell the White Fang is after."

"Hopefully he succeeds," Ironwood said. "The White Fang was always unpredictable, but now they're working towards a specific goal now."

"There's nothing more desperate than a group of radicals fighting for a cause," said Qrow. "And desperate people will do desperate things. We need to put an end to this before they make their next move."

Goodwitch frowned. "I don't like the idea of two of our students taking on something like that alone. They're not soldiers."

"Eh, they'll be fine," Qrow swirled the contents of the glass around. "Besides, it's not the first time Mason's been off chasing down answers."

"So you're not worried about him at all?" Glynda asked.

"Nah," Qrow said with a shake of the head. "Not in the slightest. They can handle themselves. I mean look at what they did on the freeway."

"And it's a miracle that no one was hurt!" Glynda retorted. "You two don't understand that they're just students! They've never faced anything like this before!" She turned to Ozpin. "Don't you have something to say about this, Professor?"

Ozpin sat down in his chair and rested his elbows on the desk. "I wouldn't count them out yet, Glynda. They're smart kids. Blake and Mason know how the world works. They'll be fine."

Glynda's eyes narrowed, and she pushed her glasses as she looked away in frustration.

Ozpin furrowed his eyebrows. "What about the authorities? Are the asking any questions about the warehouse incident?"

Ironwood shook his head. "They're looking for suspects, but it doesn't seem like they have any leads." Ironwood turned to Qrow with a sideways glance. "It seems like your boy knows a thing or two about destroying things."

"Eh, I taught him well," Qrow smirked before raising the glass to his lips and downing the rest of the whiskey.

"I need you all to be at the top of things," Ozpin stated. "The tournament starts in two days and I won't allow this event to simply become a target for an attack. James?"

"Yes?" Ironwood answered.

"I need you to prepare your forces," Ozpin said. "Have them at the ready should anything go wrong."

"Consider it done," the General said with a nod.

"And preferably keep them at a safe distance," Beacon's headmaster added. "We don't want anyone getting the wrong impression."

"Of course." Ironwood replied.

Ozpin nodded before turning his gaze to Qrow. "Qrow?"

"Yeah?"

"I need you to see if you can find out any information from your…sources." Ozpin said. "See if anyone has caught wind of anything that might cause worry."

"You got it," Qrow said before turning to Ironwood. "C'mon, Jimmy. We've got people to protect."

The General grunted something that was inaudible as the two of them turned and walked out the door, leaving Goodwitch and the headmaster alone.

"Ugh, you're supposed to back me up," she said. "You know it's dangerous for our students to get involved in situations like the one they're in now."

Ozpin sighed. "I know, Glynda. I don't like it either, but there's nothing we can do about it now. The best we can hope for is their safe return."

Professor Goodwitch looked like she was about to refute his statement, but fell upon the realization that he was right and backed down. With a sigh she said "You're right."

"Hopefully they get some useful information out of their little field trip," Ozpin said, leaning forward in his seat. "Because if we don't find out what the White Fang is up to, then we're all going to pay the price."

* * *

Mason ran through the streets of Fyrefall. He'd spent hours tracking down the parts he needed to forge a new weapon. He knew it wasn't going to be an easy feat, giving the plans that Sheila had managed to steal were based off of an incomplete technology. Not to mention the fact that he was going to be working with tech that he had almost no clue how to handle properly.

It's not like Mason couldn't do it. After all, he'd forged his own weapon before. However, the technology the SDC had used in their prototype was advanced beyond anything that he'd worked with before. In his head, he believed the experience would be akin to trying to build a high performance piston out of nothing but a few things found in a scrapyard; not impossible, but pretty much impossible.

As he passed by, he saw that he cleanup efforts were well underway as he passed by businesses and buildings that were already in the midst of the rebuilding process. It was a pleasant sight to see the townspeople band together to rebuild after the attack. He passed

The contents of his backpack rattled around inside as he turned a sharp corner onto Market Street. Somehow, the hardware shops had almost all of the parts he needed. Things like the Magnetic Stabilizing Ring and the Cycling Field Energizers were surprisingly easy to come by, although they cost a pretty penny. The only thing that Mason had trouble finding was the Dilithium power cells, which according to Sheila's calculations, he'd need four of in order to complete his little project. He'd scoured most of the city's hardware shops searching for them, but to no avail. Each shopkeeper was adamant that the power cells were too dangerous for them to sell to the public, saying something about how they were essentially tiny nuclear reactors. However, after some convincing, one of the shopkeepers revealed the location of a place where he could find them; a black market dealer named Greg.

Greg had made a living selling merchandise that wasn't exactly legal, but it wasn't anything illegal in a technical sense either. Instead, Greg's area of expertise was acquiring hard-to-find merchandise that would normally cost a fortune, and selling it for an even larger fortune.

Thankfully, Mason didn't have to worry about money, as Qrow pretty much had an endless reserve that he'd given him access to.

 _"One of the perks of being a Hunter,"_ Qrow had said. _"People will pay you to do anything."_

Considering Qrow's habits, Mason often joked with his adoptive father, saying that he would one day end up blowing their money on a late night binge of blackjack, hookers, and a never-ending supply of scotch. Qrow would often laugh at the joke and reply with something along the lines of "Don't tempt me."

Still, Greg's offers for the Dilithium Power Cells nearly made Mason's jaw drop.

"450 lien EACH?" Mason had asked in disbelief.

"Yep," Greg nodded his head. "And that's not even market price for merch like this."

"Then why are you selling them so…'cheap?'"

Greg sighed. "Look, I'm gonna level with you. These babies are used. They don't have half of the power that they would if they were new. And the type of people that buy these, they typically don't want them to be used, you know what I mean?"

 _"Take the deal,"_ Sheila urged Mason through the earpiece lodged in his ear. _"He doesn't realize that the half life of a Dilithium isotope like that is somewhere around 1000 years. If he did, he'd still sell them at market value. Even at half used, those power cells will give you all the energy you need for up to twenty years."_

Mason sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose at the thought of the price, but there was no getting around the fact that he NEEDED those power cells. "Fine. I need four of them."

"Tell you what," Greg said as he pulled the surprisingly small silver cylinders out of his trench coat pocket. "Since you're buying in bulk, I'll knock off fifty lien."

"Salt of the earth…" Mason muttered under his breath as he pulled out his wallet and paid the sleazy man.

 _"Hey, at least he was honest with you,"_ Sheila said.

Mason rolled his eyes as he stuffed the power cells into his backpack and walked on out of the alley and back into the street.

It was mid-afternoon and Fyrefall was still filled with citizens either bustling about their day, or helping their neighbors with repairs to the damage done in the Grimm attack. He passed by a crowd of people and heard a voice call out, "Hey kid!"

Mason turned around and saw Kara the Innkeeper walking toward him.

"Hey," she said with a smile. "Fancy seeing you around! I thought you might have been a giant pile Grimm shit by now."

"Nah," Mason said with a chuckle. He balled his hand into a fist and made a knocking motion against his chest. "My heart's still beating."

She laughed. "Well that's nice to hear! Where are you heading?"

"Geoff's Dust and Mercantile at the corner of Powell and Market." Mason replied. "I need some supplies after that little incident."

"Oh!" Kara grinned. "Can I walk with you? I'm heading that way anyway."

With a nod, Mason replied, "Yeah sure, no problem."

"Great!" she happily said. Kara began walking down the street with Mason at her side. "So what have you been doing since that horde of soulless beasts charged through town?"

"Sleeping," he replied with a nervous laugh. "Or maybe some kind of mini-coma. I'm not sure."

She laughed. "Oh wow, so you took a beating, huh?"

"Eh, I'm alright," Mason said. "How'd your tavern fare? Did it take any damage?"

"Aside from a few missing shingles, it's nothing to worry about," Kara shrugged. "I scared 'em off. Those things know not to mess with me."

"You and your baseball bat?" he grinned. "I'll bet."

Kara scoffed. "You've never seen me in action."

"Action?" Mason asked. "What kind of action could you possibly have seen?"

"Let's just say that I don't take shit from anybody," she replied. "One time, a guy had too much to drink. I should've cut him off, but he was just too entertaining."

"Go on…" he urged.

There was a large amount of debris in the middle of the sidewalk and the two sidestepped it and continued on their path.

"Then, he started to get a little rowdy – breaking glasses, that sort of thing. Then a little handsy. Then he started trying to feel me up," she continued.

"What did you do?" Mason asked.

Kara laughed. "I broke his hand."

"Whoa," he laughed. "You are a complete badass, aren't you?"

"Damn right!" she said proudly. "Now he always addresses me as ma'am."

"Remind me to have you on hand the next time the Grimm are breathing down my neck," he said. "Sounds like you run a tight ship."

Kara stretched her arms over her head before folding them across her chest. "Of course I do. I love that place. I love the fact that I get to see and meet people from all over the world and hear their stories."

"Well I've got plenty of stories," he said. "Blake and I have been all over Remnant the past few weeks. We should stop by your place before we leave and tell you about it!"

Kara's face lit up. "Do you think you could? I'd love that!"

"Sure we could!" he said. "It'd be great! We'll make a night of it."

Kara's excitement was evident. "Oh that'll be wonderful!"

The two of them continued walking until Kara stopped in front of what Mason assumed was a General Store. "Well, it looks like this is my stop. The Dust shop should be right at the end of the road!"

"Great!" he smiled. "I'll talk to Blake about sitting down and chatting with you later!"

Kara's smile was large and wide. "I'd like that a lot."

"See ya!" he said with a wave.

"Yeah, see you later!" she said before disappearing into the store, leaving Mason walking toward his destination with a smile on his face.

He found the small establishment right where Shaw said it would be. He pushed the door open and walked inside.

It was a small establishment with shelves full of various vials of dust. There were Dust dispensers that lined the walls filled with multi colored powders. At the front of the store, a man with a long curly mustache sat behind the counter at the front of the store. His head was propped up by his hand as he flipped through a magazine lying in front of him.

Once he realized that someone had entered the store he closed the magazine and rose from his chair.

"Welcome to Geoff's Dust and Mercantile!" he said happily, "I'm Geoff, what can I do you for?"

Mason rushed up to the counter. "I need some Dust."

"Well, you came to the right place," Geoff replied. "What were you looking for?"

"Give me the most combustible thing you have," Mason said. "Preferably tetragonal crystals."

"Ah, I think I have just what you need," Geoff said before ducking behind the counter. He returned with a fat, long, reddish orange crystal in his palm. "I call it the Morning Glory. It might not be as explosive as pure fire Dust, but it burns longer and hotter than the rising sun."

Mason's eyes lit up as he admired the beautifully colored crystal. "It's perfect."

"It's a synthetic though. The real thing is much too rare and you won't find it in any store," Geoff explained. "I managed to get my hands on a small piece of the real stuff that grows naturally and synthesized these little beauties. They're not as potent as the natural stuff, but if you want want something that will pack a punch, this is it."

"Fantastic. I'll take four of them."

Geoff's eyes widened. "Absolutely. Let me ring you up!"

Mason watched as the Geoff the shop keeper ducked behind the counter and returned with three more crystals.

"That'll be 600 lien." Geoff stated.

Mason nodded and took out his credit card and handed it to Geoff. "Thanks for this."

"Hey man, anything for the guy who helped save the town the other day." Geoff replied as he swiped the card through the machine before handing it back to Mason.

Geoff carefully placed the Dust crystals into tiny glass tubes and packed them with cotton so that they wouldn't rattle around. He then placed the tubes in a small wooden box that was packed with a kind of cotton stuffing before closing it and handing it to Mason.

"Thanks again for coming!" Geoff said as Mason walked out the door.

Once outside, he heard a small beeping sound inside his earpiece, indicating a call. He tapped the side of it and answered. "Hello?"

 _"Yeah, Mason it's Shaw. You've been out all day and we have things to talk about."_

"I know, I'm on my way back," he replied. "But first thing's first, I need a workshop and tools to work with."

 _"You can use the shed out back,"_ Shaw said. _"That should have everything you need. But we really should talk first."_

"Eh, it can wait," Mason passively replied. "Besides, I can't fight the White Fang right now. What would I do? Shout mildly amusing insults at them and hope they pity me enough to let me live?"

Shaw was silent for a moment. _"Yeah, good point. Just hurry."_

"You got it," he replied before hanging up.

Not ten seconds later, Sheila's voice came through the earpiece. _"Are you sure you have everything?"_

Mason sighed. "Yeah, I think so. I mean, I got everything you told me to get."

 _"Nice job,"_ she said. _"You'll be back getting your ass kicked in no time."_

"Hey is there a 'sassy' setting that I could turn down on you or something?"

 _"Don't you dare mess with my settings,"_ she said. _"You have to buy me dinner first."_

"Nah, that's okay," Mason laughed and shook his bag of parts. "What do you say we get back and science up a new weapon?"

* * *

Roman Torchwick stood at the bottom of the steps in the main foyer of a large decaying mansion.

"Why do we always set up shop in shit that's falling apart," Roman muttered to himself. "I mean it IS a mansion, but couldn't it be y'know, nicer?"

The sound of heels clicking on the dusty wooden floor echoed through a large, dimly lit foyer. Cobwebs and dust adorned the once polished statues that sat on the top of the stair posts. Moldy paintings decorated the walls and the ticking of an aging grandfather clock counting the minutes echoed throughout the room as Cinder appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Is everything in order?" she asked.

"Yeah, everything's set," he answered. "Neo's embedded with the White Fang strike team. They're looking for the mutt now."

"And you're sure she can hold her own?" Cinder ran her finger along the statue next to her.

Torchwick scoffed. "Of course she can. If anything goes wrong, she'll be fine."

"Good," Cinder cooed. "Very good."

"Are you sure that Griffon kid knows where the book is?" Torchwick asked.

Cinder grinned. "I'm willing to bet my life he has it."

"What makes you so sure that he has it?"

She couldn't explain how she knew, but she did nonetheless. "Trust me. He does."

"Then why hasn't he destroyed it already?"

"He doesn't know what it is," Cinder replied. "If he did, then he wouldn't be heading to see that traitorous lieutenant for information in the first place."

"Okay then!" Roman said after a semi-awkward silence. He could tell that her focus was no longer on him. Roman knew when she got like that, it was because she was plotting in her head, and he knew all too well that it was a bad idea to interrupt her. "I'm gonna go do things…that thing I need to do. I'll talk to you later."

Roman turned to his left and headed into an adjacent room. It didn't seem like Cinder even noticed his absence. She was lost in her own devious thoughts.

"Griffon will pay for what his family did to me. The secrets written in that book are the key to a power more devastating than anything this world has ever seen," she muttered. "And it WILL be mine…"

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading guys! I know I've been sporadic with updates, but I'm trying to write them as fast as I can. However, some days are just easier to write than others. Anyway, I hope that you liked it! As always, be sure to leave a review or drop me a message to let me know how I'm doing! Until next time!**


	6. Chapter Five: Round One

**Yo.**

 **I'm back.**

Chapter Five: Round One

The Vytal Festival arena was filled to capacity for the first round of the tournament. The sheer masses of people created an atmosphere unlike any other. Floating high in the center of the stadium were four massive screens facing in each direction so that everyone in the audience could clearly see the action below.

Leo Rayner and the rest of team SLVR made their way into the stands, pushing through the crowd to get to their seats. The four open seats were placed next to none other than team JNPR. However, Jaune was missing from the group, leaving only Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren.

"Hey guys!" Nora said as she enthusiastically pointed to the open seats next to them. "We saved your seats!"

Sara smiled as she took her seat in between Ryan and Violet. "Thank you, Nora, you didn't have to do that!"

"Eh, it's no problem!" Nora waved.

"No, I really mean you didn't have to do that," Sara nervously laughed. "We reserved these seats ahead of time."

"And I guarded them to prevent any would-be seat stealers from swiping them out from under you!" Nora triumphantly proclaimed, beating her chest twice and pointing her index finger at the leader of team SLVR while mouthing the words " _I gotchu_."

Leo sat between Nora and his twin sister Violet with a bag of fresh popcorn in hand. He couldn't help but smile at the exchange. He leaned forward and looked over at the entire lineup of Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren. "So, how are you guys enjoying the festival so far?"

Pyrrha leaned forward and made eye contact with the red haired sniper. Her mouth was stuffed to capacity with noodles that dangled below her chin. "Issss grett!"

Ren nudged her side and pointed to the noodles. "You have something there."

It took a second for Pyrrha to register what he was referring to, and her cheeks turned red when she realized it. She quickly swallowed the noodles and smiled. "Sorry about that! We're great! How about all of you?"

"Eh, not bad," Violet said as she flipped her aviator sunglasses over her eyes and stretched her arms over her head. "It's like everyone and their grandma is here."

"Speaking of which," Leo motioned toward Pyrrha. "Where's your fearless leader at?"

Pyrrha let out a brief laughing snort. "Oh, THAT'S a funny story."

"Well spill it!" Violet shouted from down the row.

"You see, Jaune didn't exactly get the best grades in Professor Port's class this semester, so in order to pass, Port's making Jaune…" Pyrrha tried to restrain her laughter. Once she pulled herself together, she sighed. "Oh, you'll see soon enough."

"Who will you be rooting for today?" Ren asked. "RWBY or SSSN?"

"Team RWBY all the way," Ryan said. "Or is it RWY now since Blake and Mason are gone?"

"Wouldn't their team name be RWMBY or RWBYM after Mason joined?" Leo asked. "Was the 'M' supposed to be silent?"

"Do you think they count the 'W' in RWBY as an upside down 'M' too?" Violet suggested as she brushed her red hair from her face.

"Vi, that's just dumb," Leo replied.

"Well that really doesn't matter anymore," Ryan said. "They're still two members short.

"Frankly, I'm surprised that they were allowed to compete with only three people in the first place." Pyrrha stated.

"Hey, have any of you guys actually heard from Mason or Blake since they left?" Sara asked.

Glances were exchanged amongst JNPR until Ren shook his head. "No, we haven't heard from them since that night at the warehouse."

Violet yawned and raised her hand. "Yeah, apparently Weiss heard from Mason a little while ago."

"What?" Sara asked, "How do you know that?"

"Ruby told me they talked yesterday," Violet said as she propped her legs up on the seat in front of her. "She told me before they left to get ready for their match."

"Did she mention where they were?" asked Ren.

Violet nodded slowly. "Yep. They're somewhere Mistral. Some town called Fyrefall."

"Fyrefall, huh?" Sara said. "Well at least they'll be safe from the Grimm there. They tend to leave the area surrounding Mt. Solstice alone."

"See that's the thing," Violet turned to Sara. "Apparently there was an incident with the Grimm when they arrived."

Sara looked perplexed. "That's…that's strange."

"Why's that?" Ren asked.

"Well because the Grimm typically avoid that region," Sara stated. "Mt. Solstice emits a strange type of radiation that repels them. My dad and a bunch of other scientists tried to study it to see if we could harness it as a way to keep the Grimm from attacking the smaller cities and towns that aren't that well protected, but the dangerous conditions on the mountain make it almost impossible to stay there for long. We still have no idea what causes it."

"And this is why you're our leader," Leo said as he gently poked the side of her head with his index finger. "That big sexy brain of yours is just loves to show itself off, doesn't it?"

Sara shrugged. "Hey, I can't help it. My dad's a Grimm expert. I kinda picked it all up from him."

"Do you think it's something to worry about?" Pyrrha asked. "The Grimm in Fyrefall?"

"I'm not sure," Sara replied. "I'd need to know more details about it. I'll have to remember to ask Mason and Blake about it when they get back."

"Speaking of which," Ryan interjected, "Does anyone know why they left in the first place?"

"I'll bet it has something to do with the White Fang," Leo said as he popped a piece of popcorn in his mouth and crunched away.

From out of the corner of her sunglasses, Violet noticed something off about Sara. She looked either looked bothered or lost in her own thoughts. Regardless, it prompted Violet to try to get to the bottom of it.

"Psst, hey," Violet said, low enough so that only Sara could hear. "You okay?"

"Huh?" Sara napped out of it and glanced at her teammate. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about some stuff, that's all."

"Hmmm," Violet hummed as she peered at Sara over the rims of her sunglasses. "Worried about the Grimm?"

Before Sara could answer, a loud trumpet began to play throughout the arena, signaling the beginning of the tournament. Soon, a booming voice echoed throughout the stadium with the familiar bravado of Professor Port.

"Welcome to the 40th Biannual Vytal Festival Tournament!" his booming voice nearly shook the entire stadium. "The time of the first round is nearly upon us!"

"That it is!" the voice of Professor Oobleck agreed. "My name is Bartholomew Oobleck alongside my esteemed colleague Peter Port and we're coming to you live from the 40th Vytal Festival Tournament held here in the lovely Kingdom of Vale!"

"Yes, I pretty much explained that already…" Port muttered before resuming his commentary. "Today we have the exciting matchup of Team SSSN vs Team RWBY!"

"This should be exciting indeed!" said Oobleck.

"Again, I already said that," Port bellowed. "Now, let's go down to our sideline correspondent, Jaune Arc, who will be witnessing all the action as it happens!"

Suddenly, the deafening screeching of microphone feedback filled the air, and every single person in the audience instinctively covered their ears for protection.

"Oh jeez!" Jaune's voice replaced the screeching sound. "Sorry about that everyone! Stupid…freaking…"

"Jaune," Port asked. "Do you have any news from the sidelines?"

Jaune's face appeared on the giant jumbo screens around the stadium.

"Oh wow, uh…hi everyone!" Jaune waved to the camera. "Yes, Profess- err I mean, Peter. I interviewed both Team RWBY and Team SSSN as they entered their locker rooms and both teams looked ready to go."

"How is the status of Team RWBY?" Oobleck asked. "I'm sure the big question on everyone's mind is whether or not they will be able to hold their own without Blake Belladonna or Mason Griffon."

"Well it's obvious the um, numbers are against them Bart," Jaune replied, his voice cracking with nervousness. "I interviewed the powerhouse of Team RWBY, Yang Xiao Long. When I asked her whether or not she thought her team could overcome their one-member deficit, she said – and I quote – 'You bet your sweet ass we can. They don't stand a chance. Sun Wukong had better watch out because his god-like abs won't save him from me…probably…maybe.' – end quote. Back to you, Peter!"

"Some fierce fighting words from Yang Xiao Long!" Port laughed heartily.

Oobleck nodded. "But as fierce as those words are, it doesn't change the fact that Team RWBY is at a severe disadvantage going into this matchup."

"That's quite true, Barty," Port agreed. "Normally, a team with five members would have the benefit of rotating in a member in at the beginning of the doubles rounds, giving said team the benefit of having a fresh fighter in the mix."

"Right you are," Oobleck said. "Now, without both Belladonna AND Griffon, Team RWBY is not only deprived of that five-member advantage, but they also find themselves a member down here in the preliminary round."

"Now, back to Jaune to hear what Team SSSN had to say!" said Port.

Jaune tapped the microphone to make sure it was still on. "Uh, yes! I also interviewed Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasilias of Team SSSN. I believe we actually have a tape of that interview."

The giant screens cut to a video of both Sun and Neptune. At the sight of Sun's abs on the massive screen, nearly every female in the stadium audibly cheered.

Jaune's voice could be heard off-screen asking the questions.

"So, fellas, what do you think of Yang Xiao Long's comments about you?"

"Well Jaune," Sun replied with his hands on his hips. "It seems obvious to me that she's just trying to psych us out. I mean, we're clearly the superior team here, and we aren't gonna go easy on them just because of their little handicap."

The camera then panned to Neptune and Jaune asked, "What about you, Neptune? What do you think of Yang?"

Neptune's eyes shifted back and forth before he answered. "She scares me. I've seen Yang in action and she absolutely terrifies me."

Sun turned to face Neptune and made a face that silently said 'dude, what are you doing?'

Neptune shrugged. "What? He asked me what I thought about her and I told him the truth. She's scary. Pretty, but scary."

Sun rolled his eyes before the camera cut to black.

"Well well," Port said, "It seems like team RWBY may be slightly intimidating to at least ONE member of team SSSN!"

"And in more ways than one, might I add!" Oobleck added. "Now, let's hear from some of our sponsors!"

* * *

"Ha! He'd _better_ be scared of me!" Yang exclaimed as she watched the interview in the stadium above unfold on her scroll. "I'll blast the blue outta that boy's hair faster than he can say 'chimichanga.'"

The team was sitting in a small locker room underneath the stadium readying their equipment. The crowd could be heard through the thick concrete walls. It sounded like a riot.

Despite Yang's attempts to lighten the mood with her jokes and quips, the collective nervousness in the air was palpable between the remaining members of Team RWBY.

Weiss looked over at Ruby, who was making sure her boots were tightly tied.

"Over and under…now through the loop…" the crimson leader muttered.

"Ruby, that's the third time you've tied them," Weiss said. "If you tie them any tighter, you'll lose blood circulation to your legs."

"Oops!" Ruby laughed. "I guess my nerves are acting up."

Yang through her arm around her sister. "Whatcha' nervous for? We're gonna go out there and clobber those guys!"

"I don't see how that's possible when we're outnumbered four to three." Weiss said. "We don't stand a chance if we take them on conventionally."

Ruby's head perked up. "Weiss is right."

"Of course I am," Weiss replied. "It doesn't take a mathematician to see that the odds are stacked against us."

"So maybe we fight unconventionally," Ruby suggested. "We'll _force_ the odds into our favor."

"How do you suppose we do that?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, what's your plan, sis?" Yang added.

A sinister smile crept across Ruby's face. "Okay, here's what we do…"

* * *

The VIP box in the Vytal Tournament stadium was not unlike a restaurant. The middle of the room was covered with tables and a large television broadcasting the tournament mounted on the wall. A row of comfortable leather seats lined up along large glass window, provided VIPs with a spectacular view of the action below.

Qrow and Ozpin were already in their seats by the time General James Ironwood walked into the room.

"Jimmy!" Qrow said, holding his drink out to greet his friend. "Glad you could make it."

"Qrow. Oz," Ironwood took the seat between Ozpin and Qrow. "Fine day for a fight, isn't it?"

"As perfect a day for a festival if there ever was one," Ozpin replied. "How are things from a security standpoint?"

"Security is in place around the perimeter and Knights are placed at every entrance to the stadium," Ironwood replied. "Nothing gets in or out without one of my people knowing about it."

"Hmm," Qrow hummed. "Don't you think seeing a boom in security like that will raise a few eyebrows, Jimmy?"

"It's a risk we have to take," Ironwood said. "With recent events, it's just better to take precautions. Just to be safe."

"Yeaahh, you're probably right about that." Qrow interlocked his fingers behind his head and closed his eyes with a sigh.

Ozpin turned his head to the VIP box just as Glynda hurried inside. She looked to be in a frazzled state as she took her seat next to Ozpin.

"What's wrong, Glynda?" Ozpin asked.

Once she caught her breath, Goodwitch calmly replied, "There's been reports of a Grimm attack on the village of Fyrefall in Mistral."

Ozpin leaned in and whispered, "Casualties?"

"Minimal. Apparently a pair of young Huntsman helped fight the Grimm back," she replied.

"Could it be ours?" he said.

Goodwitch nodded. "I believe so."

"Hmmm," Qzpin hummed. "Keep an ear to the ground, Glynda. If you hear anything else, let me know. The last thing we need is two of our students dead or involved in an international incident."

"Right," Glynda replied. She turned her attention to the stadium jumbo screen. "Is that…is that Jaune Arc?"

Ozpin chuckled. "Oh yes, Peter made a deal to give him extra credit if he acted as the interviewer for the match."

Goodwitch scowled. "Peter's only doing that because he doesn't want to walk all the way down to the stadium floor and back to the booth after every match."

"That's my thought exactly," Ozpin said. "But you have to admit, it's quite funny."

Goodwitch rolled her eyes and turned her full attention to the stadium floor where the first match of the tournament would soon be underway.

* * *

The fireplace in the main living space of the mansion was set ablaze and the roaring fire cast a warm glow about the room. Cinder was sitting in a large leather chair with her legs crossed and her hand open, palm facing the roaring fire.

Suddenly, a stream of fire lashed out at her from the fireplace, leaping through the air and landing straight into her open palm. She toyed with the plasmatic ball of fire, absentmindedly rolling it around in her hand and letting it swirl through her fingers. It almost seemed like the flame had a mind of its own.

Cinder preferred being in isolation whenever she had time to herself. She found the silence to be incredibly therapeutic. It gave her time to think and process information.

The crackling of the fireplace at her side was soothing enough to cause her eyelids to become heavy and tired. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

* * *

Sun's chest heaved as he ran through the thick foliage spawned by the Vytal Tournament arena. He wiped away the sweat and dew that was clouding his vision as he tried to meet up with the rest of his team.

"Stupid rainforest," he muttered. "Why did it have to be the rainforest?"

Sun, Sage, Scarlet, and Neptune had gotten separated in the sheer density of the rainforest arena. Giant leaves matted themselves against Sun's face as he ran through them and mud spattered against the back of his calves in the process.

His lungs started to burn and Sun slowed to a halt as a result. He doubled over and sucked in as much oxygen as his body would physically allow.

"Hello?" He called out, "Is anybody there?"

A hushed voice hastily replied from right next to his ear. "Keep your voice down, man!"

Sun yelped sharply and leapt back. "What the hell, Neptune!? Where are you?"

"Right here," Neptune whispered.

Sun took a step back and realized that Neptune was hiding under the cover of several fern trees. His bright blue hair stuck out from behind the leaves.

"Dude, what the hell are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Neptune replied. "I'm hiding!"

"Why?!" Sun asked. "They're more likely to find you if you're just standing around in one spot!"

"Correction," Neptune stuck his entire head out from the ferns. " _Hiding,_ not standing. _Hiding_ in one spot _."_

Sun grabbed Neptune by the jacket and pulled him out of his hiding spot. "C'mon, we gotta catch up with Sage."

"What happened to Scarlet?" Neptune asked as he pulled a large leaf out of his shirt. "He was with you the last time I saw him."

Sun shook his head. "It was…it was ugly, man. It was ugly. Weiss and Yang ambushed us in the clearing. He sacrificed himself so I could get out of there."

"Wait a minute," Neptune said. "Did he sacrifice himself, or did you leave him to save your tail?"

Sun casually shrugged. "Is there a difference?"

"Dude," Neptune said, "You're the worst leader ever."

"Whatever man, don't judge me," Sun replied. "Now c'mon, let's go find Sage so we can end this."

The Vytal Tournament arena was a technological marvel. It was specifically designed to cancel out the noise of the crowd in certain stages while the participants were engaged in combat in order to allow them to maintain their focus while also allowing spectators to hear the action as well as the commentary provided by the commentators. The Rainforest was one such stage, which made it all the more unsettling as Sun and Neptune trekked through the wet foliage.

"Dude, how big is this place?" Neptune asked as he stepped over a fallen tree.

Sun followed close behind. "I have no idea. It did NOT seem this big when we got here."

Suddenly, there was a small rustling in the bushes behind them that made Sun and Neptune stop dead in their tracks.

"Whatwasthat?" Neptune whispered with a hint of panic on his voice.

The giggle of a young girl pierced the air. Its haunting echo bounced off of the trees around them, making it seem like they were surrounded.

"Ruby…" Sun muttered as he whipped out his staff.

A loud whooshing noise came from behind them once again and in a fraction of a second, Neptune whirled around and pulled his gun from the strap on his back. He aimed down the sights and only saw leaves falling to the ground, followed by another unnerving giggle.

"C-c'mon Ruby, s-stop playing around!" Neptune shakily spoke as he and Sun moved back-to-back. "I'm sure we can find a way to end this peacefully!"

Sun let out a nervous laugh. "Nep, I don't think talking your opponent down is a valid way to eliminate them."

"Hey, it's worth a shot! Negotiation tactics are a sorely underrated skill in combat!" Neptune's aim was shaky. He felt like he was in one of those old action movies where the heroes were being stalked through a forest by an alien intent on dismembering them for sport. Only instead of an alien, it was a fifteen-year-old girl with a gun-scythe.

From behind the thick brush in front of them, the sound of rustling grew closer and louder until it was right on top of them. Sun and Neptune pointed their weapons toward the brush.

"As soon as you see…whoever that is, let 'em have it," said Sun.

Neptune nodded and pulled his goggles over his eyes.

The brush shook violently before it parted, and both Neptune and Sun closed their eyes and yelled, ready to attack as the figure emerged from the shadows.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Sage asked in confusion.

Upon hearing their teammate's voice, Sun and Neptune opened their eyes and lowered their weapons.

"Sage?" Neptune asked. "Where were you?"

"Looking for you two!" Sage replied. "What happened? Why were you freaking out like that?"

"You mean you didn't hear those laughs?" Sun asked.

"No, I have no idea what you're talking about," Sage shook his head. "Where's Scarlet? Did you guys get split up?"

"No," Neptune said. "Sun abandoned him to save himself."

Sun closed his eyes and shook his head mournfully. "His sacrifice will not be in vain."

"Why am I not surprised?" Sage shook his head with a sigh. "Do you at least have a plan?"

"Of course! Finding you WAS the plan," Sun replied. "Great work, team. Mission accomplished!"

"The second part of that plan was to win," Neptune added. "So, about half of that mission was accomplished so far."

Sage rolled his eyes. "Do you guys have any suggestions on how we go about doing that?"

"Well Neptune had a pretty good idea where he just stood around waiting for one of them to find him." Sun said.

"Hiding!" Neptune corrected. "I was hidin –"

The sounds of tree branches cracking and leaves rustling above them caused everyone's head to snap upward.

There, they saw Yang.

She was hanging upside down, staring back at them. Her feet were stuck to a floating black glyph in the air. Yang cocked her head to the side, placed her hands on her hips, and smiled.

"Howdy, boys."

Neptune yelped and aimed his weapon at Yang's face. He was milliseconds away from pulling the trigger.

"Huh?" Sage said in confusion.

Neptune and Sun turned around just in time to see Sage staring at a small circular vine around his feet. Then in a flash of red, the vine tightened and ripped his legs out from under him. His screams filled the air as he was dragged away, clawing at the dirt.

"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?" Neptune shrieked.

Sun's head turned back to Yang, who had a large grin on her face.

"Boo."

Sun and Neptune turned on a dime and began sprinting through the foliage.

"Oh crap, crap, crap!" Neptune spouted as he leaped over a rotting log. "Sun! Shouldn't we be fighting instead of running?"

"Not…running," Sun replied in between heaving breaths. He was clearly gassed, and trailed a few meters behind Neptune. "Strategically…retreating..."

Neptune glanced behind him to keep an eye on Sun, who suddenly slammed into a white glyph that had appeared in front of him and knocked him on his back.

Neptune halted in his tracks and turned around to help his friend. "Sun!"

Sun held up his hand before Neptune could do anything. "No, Nep, go on without me!"

"Now is not the time for you to be all noble and sacrifice yourself!" Neptune replied. "It's a tournament, if I lose you, I'm outnumbered!"

"Oh right," Sun muttered. "Screw being a hero, GET OVER HERE AND SAVE ME, MAN!"

Neptune took a step toward Sun, but not before his faunus friend was sideswiped by the red torpedo named Ruby Rose. She charged into Sun, wrapped him up in her cape, and tore off into the brush in what could most aptly be described as a drive-by kidnapping.

"NOOOOO!" Neptune shouted to the heavens. "OH GOD, WHY?"

Yang dropped down from the trees in front of Neptune and placed her hands on her hips. "Well what do we have here?"

Neptune held his hands up as he slowly backed away. "Now I'm…I'm not looking for trouble, Yang. I'm sure we can solve this without violence."

"What?" Weiss stepped out from behind a bush. She stumbled as a branch snagged on her jacket, but played it off as if nothing had happened. "You do realize you're in a tournament where the objective is to beat your opponent using violent means, right?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't have to be that way!" Neptune replied, still walking backward. "Ever hear of the phrase, 'live and let live?'"

Ruby walked up through the brush opposite Weiss. "But how would we win, then?"

"Umm," Neptune stammered. "Umm…"

Yang walked right up to the terrified young man and leaned in close before whispering _"Run."_

Neptune whirled around and only got in a single stride during his attempt to run away from the terrible trio before tripping over a tree root and falling flat on his face.

Suddenly, a loud horn bellowed through the stadium, and the foliage dissipated, revealing the bare stage skeleton beneath.

"Neptune is out of bounds!" Port spoke over the PA system. "And the winner is…Team RWBY!"

Neptune lifted his head and looked at the ground beneath him. His head was resting just past the white line that marked the 'out of bounds' portion of the stadium. He let out a partial sigh of relief as he dropped his head back to the floor.

"Gee, are you really that scared of me, Blue Boy?" Yang asked, amid the cheers of the crowd.

Neptune rolled over and stared up at the evening sky. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

Yang rolled her eyes and helped Neptune to his feet with a smile. "C'mon, I'm not that bad!"

"All I know is that I never want to be on your bad side again." Neptune replied.

"My bad side is my best side." Yang said with a wink.

Neptune nodded. "Right. Well that's uh, that's good to know."

Yang looked past Neptune and saw Sun, Sage, and Scarlet as they nursed their wounds in defeat. "

Ruby and Weiss joined Yang as she noticed Jaune walking over to her with a cameraman and microphone in tow.

"Yang! Ruby! Weiss!" Jaune said. "That was uh…quite the…you guys won! How does it feel to overcome the odds like you did?"

"First off, Team SSSN was so fun to fight," Weiss talked into the microphone as she tried to catch her breath from the excitement. "We knew we had to take a different approach to fighting if we wanted to overcome our handicap. It was a gamble, but it paid off in the end!"

Ruby, giddy with excitement, grabbed the microphone and placed a rifle round in her mouth like a cigar, and with the intonation of a grizzled old man, said, "I love it when a plan comes together!"

Jaune managed to recapture the microphone from Ruby and turned his attention to Yang. "Do you have anything you want to add?"

Yang ripped the microphone from Jaune's hands and looked him straight in the eye.

"You're next," she said before lifting the microphone in the air and letting it drop to the ground.

Jaune gulped as the crowd erupted in cheers once more, while Ruby, Weiss, and Yang headed back to the locker room.

* * *

The first thing Cinder saw was a house engulfed in flames in the middle of a village. Her childhood home, the place where she'd lived with her mother and baby brother when she was very young, was burning to the ground. Being one of her very first memories, it was a scene that she recognized all too well. She often revisited the images in her mind. Sometimes, something simple like the smell of smoke would trigger those memories, and Cinder tried hard to squash them as soon as they reared their head.

She was weak back then; a pathetic and helpless child. Cinder had vowed to put all of that behind her, and become strong and powerful enough so that nothing could make her feel that helpless and pathetic ever again.

Yet, here she was. Reliving an old memory that, no matter how much she didn't want to admit it, still brought her a great deal of pain.

But something felt off.

She looked around, expecting to see the surrounding buildings or villagers rushing to help. She expected to see the same things she'd always seen while revisiting that memory. Instead, she saw tall oily shadows wavering about in the distance, almost like trees blowing mildly in the wind. The sky was a deep gray, contrasting against the featureless black masses that took the place of the village buildings and blocking out any light from the moon or stars. The air was filled with smoke as well, surrounding her in a grayish black fog.

Then came the screams. The air echoed with the shrill cries of a child from inside the burning house; an infant. She couldn't explain it. Every fiber in Cinder's being told her to run into the house. She _had_ to get in that house. She wanted to break down the door and save whoever was screaming. The fires wouldn't burn her, she could get in and get out safely.

But every time she tried to move, she was sluggish and slow. It was like trying to move through water against the current. Every step took a massive amount of effort and energy, but it didn't matter. She had to find the screaming child before it was too late.

After what seemed like an eternity, Cinder reached the burning doorway. She reached out to grab the doorknob and let out a yelp as the heat from the doorknob seared her skin.

It _burned_ her.

"What the hell...?" she muttered as she stared at the blistering mark on her open palm. She hadn't been burned by anything since her aura first manifested. Her semblance wouldn't allow it.

Cinder snapped out of her state of disbelief thanks to the continuous sound of the horrible screaming coming from the child inside the house. She jumped back into action and took a step back before she rushed forward and planted her boot firmly next to the handle. There was a crunch and the door flung open, smacking against the interior wall of the building with a loud thud.

Cinder rushed inside and was immediately met with a wall of thick, black smoke. It was like being punched in the face. She tried not to breathe, but it was nearly impossible to resist. The heat combined with the smoke burned her eyes and sent her into a coughing fit. She tried to duck her head and close her eyes, anything to keep the smoke from entering her body.

However, as soon as she closed her eyes, she realized that the screaming had stopped.

The heat let up, but the smoke was still very much filling the air. It was more than she could take. Cinder turned around and opened her eyes once again to exit the building and where the entrance had just been, there was now a large open field covered tall grass. The air was clear, but she was still coughing from the smoke.

No mattered how clear the air looked, she still felt like she was breathing in the nauseating concoction. It took several moments for her to calm herself and gain her bearings, but once she could finally breathe again, Cinder surveyed her surroundings.

It had dawned upon her that upon entering the burning house, she'd been transported somewhere else entirely. There was no longer a building, or a village, or even a fire. The sky was clear, and the shattered moon of Remnant shined so brightly, that it cast shadows across the grass. Forest trees surrounded the perimeter in the distance. She didn't recognize the field and had no idea where she ended up. She looked down at her hands and realized the burn from the fire had vanished without a trace.

Suddenly, she felt inexplicably uneasy. Almost as if something had been watching her from a distance. Ice cold chills ran down her spine and the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood sharply on end.

Something was behind her. She could feel it.

Cinder slowly turned around and saw a towering, humanoid figure about thirty meters away from her.

It was blacker than black and looked like it was made out of a thick cloud of shadowy smoke. There were no discernible facial features other that its piercing red eyes.

Cinder stood her ground and clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white, preparing for an attack of some kind, but it never came. The shadowy figure just stood there menacingly. The longer she stared into its eyes, the more an overwhelming sense of dread began to wash over her, sending an uneasy quivering sensation pulsing through her stomach. It was like a small seed of fear had been planted inside of her.

No matter how much it made her uncomfortable, she refused to break eye contact with the shadow entity, and stared it down just as fiercely as it had been doing to her.

"Who… _in the hell_ …are you?" she seethed, her words dripped with venom as she spoke. "Why would you show me that… _that_ house?"

The Shadow didn't respond verbally. Instead, it began to walk - or hover – toward her.. Cinder, in an act of pure instinct, made an attempt to take a step back, but when she tried to move, she found it nearly impossible. Her legs felt like they were encased in concrete that kept her cemented to the ground.

"What did you do to me?" she asked with a hint of panic in her voice.

The Shadow, once again, declined to reply.

The closer it got, the more Cinder's composure began to falter, and that small seed of fear inside of her had begun to blossom into something very, very different, yet equally as raw.

Rage.

Cinder's eyes began to glow as she gritted her teeth and opened her clenched fists, revealing a bright orange fireball in each palm.

"You have no idea who you're fucking with…" she hissed through gritted teeth before she closed her eyes and launched the balls of fire toward the Shadow.

The sound of glass breaking rang in her ears and she immediately snapped her eyes open.

She was back in the mansion, standing up from the chair which she'd been resting in, with the shattered remnants of a glass vase scattered all over the hardwood floor across the room. Small tiny flames continued to lick the glass fragments for a few brief moments before they cooled and disappeared completely.

It took Cinder several moments to realize that she never left the mansion to begin with, and that everything was only just a dream; a very vivid, very confusing dream.

Her heart was pounding and her eyes darted wildly around the room as she tried to calm herself down. Once Cinder assured herself that she was no longer dreaming, she finally exhaled, just as Emerald and Mercury came running into the room.

"Are you okay?" Emerald asked as she looked from the glass to Cinder.

Cinder sighed and slowly nodded with a smirk. "Yes. Yes, I'm fine."

Mercury raised an eyebrow. "What the hell happened? We thought-"

"Have you heard from Neo yet?" Cinder interrupted. "She should have reported back by now."

Emerald and Mercury exchanged glances for a moment before Mercury replied. "Uh, yeah, we have. She's on her way to Mount Solstice now."

"Good," Cinder muttered as she turned away from them and faced the fireplace with her hands behind her back. "Very good."

"A-about that," Emerald bit her lip nervously. "Are you sure about this whole thing? I mean, do you really think Neo can-"

"Neo is fully capable of completing the task at hand," Cinder sharply cut Emerald off. "She'll do what needs to be done when the time comes."

"Yeah, she can handle it," Mercury added, trying to reassure Emerald. "For such a small fry, she packs one hell of a punch."

"She'll get the job done," Cinder said coolly as she turned away from the fireplace and walked past the pair. "Now if you'll excuse me, there's a matter I need to tend to."

Emerald and Mercury watched, stunned with how Cinder had just brushed off what had happened as she hurried past them and ascended the stair case down the hall toward her private room.

Once inside, Cinder shut the door and locked it behind her. With her back against the door, she inhaled as deeply as her lungs would allow. It still felt like she was choking on the smoke.

"What the hell was that?" Cinder's voice wavered as she whispered to herself.

It didn't feel like it was a dream. It felt real. But dream or not, it brought back her memory of her baby brother and the fire. Even though she fought to forget that painful memory, it was clearer than ever in her mind.

She couldn't fight it anymore.

Cinder sank to the floor in front of the door as streams of tears fell down her cheeks, and for the first time in a very long time, she cried.

* * *

 **A/N: Has it really been a year since I last updated? So I guess I owe you all a bit of an explanation. I was tired. I took a break in order to recharge my creative batteries and to focus on school and writing my own original work. I started writing a novel and even finished a few screenplays! But all the while, I kept coming back to this story on a daily basis. Planning, plotting, and writing. Even when I was supposed to be taking a break, I couldn't get the ideas I had for this story and where I wanted it to go out of my head. Now I'm ready to come back like a force of nature. Updates will be regular from here on out! As always, please do leave a review or drop a message with any questions you may have, or just to let me know how I'm doing! I'll reply to either! Until next time!**

 **DAMN, IT FEELS GOOD TO BE BACK.**


	7. Chapter Six: Never Tell Me the Odds

Chapter Six: Never Tell Me the Odds

Blake stood in Shaw's kitchen, readying a pot of fresh tea. She reached into the cupboard above the stove and removed a small glass jar filled with locally cured tea leaves. Blake was something of a connoisseur when it came to hot teas. She'd tasted hundreds of different brands and flavors, but she'd absolutely fallen in love with the kind served in Fyrefall.

She scooped some into the metal mesh tea ball and measured out the water in the baby blue tea kettle on the stove. Before she could finish, however, Blake thought it disrespectful to make some of Shaw's tea without asking him if he'd like some. After all, he was sheltering them and helping them in their quest.

Deeming such an act as rude, Blake headed toward the front door and opened it.

"Shaw?" she called as she peeked her head outside the front door. The burly faunus had disappeared nearly ten minutes prior in order to check on Mason, who was in the shed fixing his weapons. Blake glanced to her left and saw Shaw leaning against the corner of the cabin, seemingly spying on something around the corner.

"Shhh," he replied with a harsh whisper. He waved the feline faunus over. "C'mere and listen. This is fantastic."

Blake silently crept alongside the cabin to where Shaw was standing.

"What?" she whispered.

"Just wait for it…" Shaw answered.

Blake stood there for a few moments before she heard a small explosion that sounded almost like an engine backfiring coming from the shed. She glanced over at Shaw, who was covering his smile with his hand. Almost immediately, Mason's voice pierced the air, muffled by the closed walls of the shed.

"SON OF A…MOTHER…SHIT BISCUIT!"

Blake found it hard to resist snickering at the outburst. "Are you okay in there?" she shouted.

The sound of clanging metal objects among other things crept through the walls of the shed as Mason's head emerged from behind the door. "Yeah, I'm fine! Just fine!"

Judging by the scorch marks on his hand and the black soot smeared across his face, Blake concluded that his situation was in fact, not fine.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "You look like you just clawed your way out of a coal furnace."

He nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, I'm fine! Trust me, I've been through worse. Remember the easy-bake oven incident?"

Blake shuddered. "You had third degree burns and the entire room smelled like burnt cookies for a week."

"Ha!" Mason laughed. "Burned? Weiss DAMNED those things to the fiery pits of cookie hell. Ruby was so upset."

"How much longer is this gonna take?" Shaw sighed. "You've been in there since yesterday and we really need to get down to business."

"Eh, don't get your underwear in a knot," Mason replied. "I'm almost done. It should only be a little while longer."

"Well hurry up," Shaw urged. "The sooner we can get this over with, the better."

"Yeah, yeah," Mason waved him off. "I have to fix my gauntlets. That is, unless you wanna let me use that big stick you've got up your ass as a weapon. I could beat the White Fang to death with that, if you want."

Shaw smirked. "You're real funny, kid."

"I know I am!" Mason laughed. "Look, I'll be finished soon. Then you can tell me about…whatever it is that you need to tell me."

Mason shut the door to the shed. Shaw turned to Blake.

"Is he always this difficult?"

Blake smiled. "Oh you have no idea."

* * *

"Alright, back to work," Mason muttered, wiping the charred marks on his face away with a towel before tossing it aside. He walked away from the door and back to his workspace. "What's next, Sheila?"

 _"Well before you do anything else, you need to manually engage the Electromagnetic Field Conductors in the base of each blade,"_ she replied. _"Otherwise, the plasma will melt through its own housing and – "_

"Let me guess," Mason interrupted with a deadpanned expression on his face. "It'll explode."

 _"Hmmm,"_ Sheila hummed. _"Well I was going to say, 'engulf itself in a superheated flame,' but yeah, that works too. There's a small chance it'll explode anyway, though. I'm not sure those EMF conductors will generate a force field strong enough to contain the energy properly."_

"I thought you said this was safe," he said.

 _"Sure, it would be,"_ Sheila replied. _"But you have to remember, we're making these with second-hand resources and limited supplies. Plus, these schematics were designed for industrial use, and were not meant AT ALL to be used for the purposes we're going to be using them for. Not to mention you have zero knowledge of electrical engineering or quantum mechanics-"_

"- and that's why I have you guiding my hand," Mason said with a smile.

Sheila sighed. _"My point is, there are too many variables to guarantee that everything will go off without a few speed bumps."_

"And you count 'exploding' as a speed bump?"

 _"Don't you?"_

Mason scratched his head. "So what are the odds that this thing will turn me into a human barbecue?"

 _"Take a second to think about whether or not you REALLY want me to tell you the exact odds."_

After a moment he laughed. "Yeah, on second thought, never tell me the odds of anything, Sheila."

He was hovering over a small worktable. A slew of metal and mechanical parts was cluttering the work space. There were two strange looking contraptions on the table as well. They were clearly gauntlets, but with what looked like two salvaged cylindrical pipes affixed to the top of each. The cylinders protruded just over the knuckles of each glove, lined up where the steel blades on his old weapon would have emerged. Each cylinder had a large opening that exposed the orange-red crystal affixed on the inside, allowing him to work on the inner components.

The gauntlets looked like they'd been hastily cobbled together with spare parts found in a junkyard, which in all honesty, wasn't far from the truth. There were exposed wires running in between and along each of the cylindrical housings affixed to the top. A leather fingerless glove was built into gauntlets for maximum comfort, complete with a small activation button wired into the base of each index finger facing the thumb for easy access.

"Okay," Mason said as he snapped the casing shut on each cylinder before wrapping leather around the exposed tubes and wires. "That's it. It's done."

 _"Care to test it out?"_

He strapped the gauntlet securely to his forearm. Both of the inch-thick cylinders rested on top of his hand and forearm. "You mean 'care to risk being blown up to try out my awesome new weapons? Abso-fucking-lutely."

 _"Shall I prepare the countdown?"_

"Please do," he said, taking a deep breath. "Wish me luck."

 _"Don't blow up,"_ said Sheila. _"How's that for luck?"_

Mason groaned. "Just start the countdown."

 _"On three,"_ she said. _"One…two…three!"_

Mason's thumbs came within millimeters of the button, but he hesitated.

 _"What are you doing?"_

"I don't know!" he replied, his voice in a panic.

 _"What do you mean you don't know?"_

"Now that I think about it, I don't want my hands to be blown off, Sheila, I kinda need 'em."

 _"You're not gonna blow your hands off!"_

"BUT THE VARIABLES! WHAT ABOUT THE VARIABLES? YOU SAID –"

 _"I KNOW WHAT I SAID. STOP BEING A BABY AND JUST DO IT!"_

"AHHHHHH!" Mason yelled as he closed his eyes and mashed the button with his thumb.

Instantly, there were sharp electrical cracks and hisses that morphed into a low, growling hum. When Mason finally opened his eyes, he was greeted with the sight of thirteen-inch energy blades protruding from each of the cylindrical devices.

"Holy…shit," he murmured. "It…it worked."

The energy blades were a bright orange-red color, and had a strange chaotic pulsation to them, giving them a serrated appearance. The way they flickered with such intensity was certainly intimidating.

"Sheila," he asked with hesitation. "H-how's everything looking?"

 _"There are some minor power fluctuations, but it doesn't seem like something to worry about,"_ she replied. _"The blades themselves are acting erratically, but the EMF conductors seem to be holding."_

"They look…" he tried to find the right word to describe them. "…angry."

 _"Oh trust me, these things are mean as hell."_

Mason strapped on the second gauntlet and ignited it with similar effect to the first. He smacked the blades from one gauntlet onto the other. A high pitched electrical screech and crackling filled the air as sparks scattered in different directions.

"So how hot are these things?" Mason asked as he held the energy blades just inches from his face.

 _"Why don't you touch 'em and find out?"_

"Sheila…"

 _"Temps are hovering around five thousand Kelvin,"_ She stated. _"That's roughly the surface temperature of the sun. The only reason you can't feel the heat those things give off is because of that electromagnetic containment field. Without those, there's a ninety percent chance you'd burst into flames."_

"See, the sad thing is that I can't tell if you're messing with me or not."

 _"Look,"_ Sheila sighed. _"This kind of tech wasn't meant to be used on such a small scale,_ _let alone being pretty much duct taped together like it is. It's like the equivalent to building a bomb using only old pinball machine parts. Think of bursting into flames as a…minor side effect!"_

Mason grinned as he waved his hand around, trying to get used to the weight of his new weapons. The energy blades were significantly lighter than his gauntlets' previous iteration. The small crackling sound they made as they cut through the air gave him chills.

"Now how effective is this against someone's aura?"

 _"Assuming my numbers are correct – which they are - if their aura is at full capacity and depending on where you hit them, it would be like brushing against a piece of metal that's been sitting out in the sun on a hot summer day."_

"And if their aura is completely broken?"

 _"I really don't think I need to explain to you what would happen, do I?"_

Mason stared into space as he pictured it in his head. "It'd be like a hot knife through butter."

 _"A hot knife through butter,"_ Sheila confirmed.

"Huh. Interesting,"

Mason looked around the shed for something to test the gauntlets on. His eyes settled on an old tow chain hanging from the ceiling. He swiped at it with the blades and in a flurry of sparks, the lower half of the chain dropped to the ground with a thud. The broken links of the chain sizzled with a red-hot gleam.

"Huh, how about that?" he grinned before pressing the buttons on his gauntlets again and watched as the blades began to shrink back into their housing. "C'mon, we'd better see what Shaw wants before he blows a gasket."

 _"Are you sure we can trust him?"_ Sheila asked.

Mason cleaned up what was left on the table as he replied. "Maybe. Maybe not. But it's not like we have a choice. I mean, we came all this way just to hear what he had to say, we can't just bail out now."

 _"I guess you're right,"_ she grumbled as Mason walked inside. _"But promise me, the moment things start to feel fishy, we're booking it back to Vale, alright?"_

He smirked. "I promise."

* * *

Mason walked inside and found Shaw and Blake sitting around the kitchen table

"It's about time, kid," Shaw chided as he turned. "I hope whatever you made was worth all the time we wasted."

Mason clicked the ignition button on his hand and the energy blades snapped to life. "Yeah, I'd say it was worth it."

"Well I'll be damned," Shaw grinned, "I don't know how you managed to pull something like that together from pieces of scrap, but color me impressed."

"I'm sure it helps when you have someone like Sheila guiding your hand," said Blake.

 _"You'd be right about that,"_ Sheila spoke through the speakers of Mason's scroll. _"Without me, he probably would've LOST his hand."_

"No argument there," Mason replied. He clicked the ignition button once more and the blades hissed back into the gauntlet. He walked over to the table and sat down at the table next to Blake. "So…"

"Are you finally ready to hear this?" Shaw sighed.

"Is it your life story?" Mason asked. "If so, can I get a soda and popcorn?"

Blake sharply elbowed Mason in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

"Whyyy…?" he coughed, eyes tearing up.

Blake ignored him and nodded at Shaw. "Go on."

"Ahem…" Shaw cleared his throat before he spoke. "Are you at all familiar with the tale of The Mad King?"

"Yes," Blake replied.

Mason wiped the tears from his watery eyes. "Nope, can't say that I am. Qrow wasn't the 'storytelling' type when I was a kid. At least, not the child-appropriate kind of storyteller."

"In that case, get comfortable," Shaw said. "Now, the legend takes place in a time where the world was governed an Order comprised of seven Lords and Ladies. There was no conflict or war. Only peace. They had no enemies except for the small number of Grimm from time to time."

"Gods, there were Grimm back then too?" Mason asked.

Shaw nodded. "The Grimm have existed just as long as humanity has, if not longer."

"Remember how Sara would tell us about how early humans lived in fear of the Grimm?" Blake asked.

"Oh yeah…" Mason said, "I…totally don't remember that."

"Anyway, back to the story," Shaw said, "At that time, all the continents of Remnant were joined in a single massive supercontinent, Oa. Oa was filled with cities and castles and people of all different races that lived together in harmony."

Blake had heard the story many times before, but the way Shaw spoke as he told it completely drew her in little by little. It was almost as if she was hearing it for the very first time.

Shaw continued. "Each of the lords and ladies of The Order were imbued with the unique ability to use magic without the use of Dust. They were fair and just rulers, but they were not cruel. Then one day, that all changed."

"Let me guess," Mason interjected. "One of them really turned out to be a greedy bastard in the end, right?"

Shaw nodded. "Right you are. Lord Tychus was a once noble man whose heart was corrupted over time with an insatiable lust for power. In his own warped mind, Tychus had concluded that he alone should rule Remnant. He then killed his own wife – a Lady of the Seven – and committed the ultimate sin. He did the one thing that was forbidden their Order and stole her magical power."

Blake took the opportunity to chime in. "And when someone steals another's magical power, their own abilities grow exponentially."

"Exactly," Shaw said. "And he managed to kill another of his fellow Lords and steal their power as well before disappearing and evading capture. However, it wasn't long before remaining Order caught up to him and demanded that he surrender and face a trial for his crimes. But in the time that had passed, Tychus had somehow grown even stronger without stealing anyone else's power. He revealed to them that the Gods had bestowed something upon him. Something that would allow him to destroy anyone who opposed him."

"What was it?" asked Mason.

"Now this is where the story differs depending on who you talk to," Shaw replied. "Some say it was a weapon that could destroy entire kingdoms – even whole continents. Others say it could control the Grimm and make them attack on command. But regardless of which version you hear, it was always enough to terrify the remaining Lords. So much so, that after managing to apprehend Tychus, three of them sacrificed their lives to seal him away in a vault, putting him in an indefinite stasis. The last two Lords took the weapon, agreeing that it was too dangerous to entrust to either of them. They traveled to the exact point in the world that was opposite to Mad King Tychus' tomb, ensuring that the two were separated as far as physically possible. One Lord then sacrificed himself and sealed the weapon away while the other took the key away and, again, sacrificed himself to seal it away with his magic, ensuring that Mad King Tychus would never reunited with his weapon ever again."

There were a few moments of silence amongst them as Mason took a few moments for the story to sink in.

"Well…that was entertaining and all, but what the hell does that have to do with the White Fang?" asked Mason.

"You see," Shaw sighed. "This might sound crazy, but the White Fang leadership believes that the myth is true, and they're…they're after the key to unlock the vault containing Lord Tychus' weapon and they plan on using it to dominate the human race."

Blake and Mason exchanged confused glances for a moment before turning back to Shaw.

"Are you serious?" Mason chuckled nervously. "That's…absolutely insane."

"How have I not heard of this until now?" asked Blake.

"It's only shared amongst the White Fang's Elite," Shaw replied to Blake. "If the lower ranks found out that they were fighting for a mythological weapon that may or may not exist, then they might abandon the cause."

 _"I can't POSSIBLY see why they would do that."_ Sheila sarcastically stated in Mason's earpiece.

"So…" Mason squinted, trying to wrap his head around the whole situation. "The White Fang…are on a quest to steal a mythological weapon…from a fairy tale?"

"Yes," Shaw said. "That's a grossly simplified version of the story, but yes."

There was an uncomfortable silence between the three of them, a silence that was broken when Mason stood up from his seat and stretched.

"Well…thanks for the story," Mason replied as he headed toward the door. "This whole thing is too weird for my taste."

"Where are you going?" Shaw asked as he headed toward the door.

"I'm going to the tavern, I'm gonna have a drink, and I'm gonna drink and drink and drink until I drink SO much that I forget about everything that you just told me, because it sounds completely and totally insane." Mason opened the door and walked out. "Take care now, bye bye then."

With that, Mason shut the door behind him and left Blake and Shaw standing alone in the cabin.

Shaw pointed a finger at the door and turned to Blake. "Is he serious? He just up and walks away?"

"Take it from me," Blake said as she lifted up her tea cup and swirled it around. "I've never thought I would wish so hard that a cup of tea could be instead be full of alcohol right this second, but here I am."

"I know it sounds crazy, but it's absolutely true and we are the only ones that can stop the White Fang," Shaw motioned toward the door. "And we NEED him to do that."

Blake's head slumped as she sighed. "I know. If Adam thinks it's real and that it can help him conquer humanity, he'll stop at nothing to get it, even if it doesn't really exist. We have no choice but to get involved, now."

"Exactly," Shaw agreed. He looked back toward the door. "I'm gonna go talk to him and see where that gets me."

* * *

"I'll have another," Mason said as he pushed the empty pint glass back away.

Kara's tavern was quiet that evening. The only other patrons in the bar were an older man with long grey hair who looked to be asleep at his booth, and a man in his thirties watching the TV in the corner at the other end of the bar.

"Everything okay, hun?" Kara asked as she poured a glass of dark brown liquor over some ice cubes from behind the bar. "You're looking sorta sad."

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just…" Mason sighed. "I don't know."

The tavern door opened behind him and the sound of boots echoed throughout the room. Shaw strolled inside and took the seat next to Mason.

"Sebastian!" Kara said. "The usual?"

"You know it," Shaw replied with a smile.

Kara ducked behind the bar and returned with a bottle of dark ale. She popped the cap off on the edge of the bar and slid it over to Shaw.

Shaw nodded at Kara and turned to Mason, who was staring at his drink as he swirled it around the glass.

"If my math is right, you aren't old enough to drink that," he said with a grin.

"Don't you dare lecture me," Mason replied. "Besides, we're in Mistral, I'm of legal age here."

"Fair enough," Shaw said, taking a swig from his bottle. "Listen, I know it's a lot to take in at once, but-"

"The White Fang are a bunch of radical extremists that want to harness an ancient weapon and use it to inflict pain and suffering on all of humanity," Mason muttered. "Not that hard to understand."

"Oh," Shaw said. "Well…good."

Mason brought the bottle to his lips and took another sip. "What I DON'T understand is what the hell I'm supposed to do about it. How do I fit into all this? I'm just a guy who drew the shortest straw when it comes to parentage and that's it. I'm not special."

"Says the kid who can heal from mortal injuries." Shaw chuckled.

Mason slammed his hand on the table and leaned back in his seat. He stared lasers through Shaw.

"Sorry," Shaw said as he absentmindedly tapped the bar with his finger. "What…what do you know about your mother?"

"Other than she was a human?" Mason replied. "Not much. What do you know about her?"

"Well your mother, she…she was a seamstress. My, she was beautiful," He smiled fondly as he looked back on the memory. "She made the most incredible dresses and robes from what little she had to work with. She was known for sewing Dust into her garments for added flair. People came from all over to see her in hopes that she would make them something unique."

Mason was silent as he finished his drink and motioned for Kara to bring him another. With a smirk, she obliged and slid another drink in his direction as Shaw continued his story.

"When she met your dad - "

"Mmm mmm," Mason wagged a finger as he raised the glass to his lips and swallowed a mouthful of liquid. With a stern face, he replied, "Let me stop you right there, hoss. He may have been my father, but he sure as shit isn't my dad."

"Sorry, sorry." After a moment, Shaw sighed. "Look, kid, I have…I have something to tell you. A lot to tell you, actually. You know, I've been debating about this ever since we bumped into each other that night at the warehouse, but you deserve to know. And we can't work together if I'm hiding things from you."

Mason raised an eyebrow. "What are you hiding from me, Shaw?"

"You have to understand, kid, your father wasn't as bad as you and the rest of the world think he was," said Shaw. "At least, not after he and your mother met. She softened him up. Showed him the best of humanity. Hell, in his final act, he saved both you and…"

Mason froze. "Save me and who else?"

Shaw shut his eyes as he tried to find the right words. "It…it's…. you have to understand, it's complicated…"

"No, no it's really not complicated at all," Mason replied as he shifted his whole body until he was facing Shaw. "Now tell me who else he saved."

Shaw's lips quivered as the words left his mouth.

"He saved you…and your sister."

 **A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for reading! It's been a while, I know. In that time, I've graduated college and landed a job making video games! Needless to say, I've been busy, but now I finally have some free time to work on writing again! As always, please feel free to leave a review or message me to let me know how I'm doing! It's always a big help! Until next time!**


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